Charter Oak Park

Charter Oak Park was constructed by the Connecticut Stock Breeders' Association at a cost of around $100,000. The one-mile oval was located on a 143 acre parcel of land located two-miles from Hartford's business district. The grandstand had a seating capacity of 4,000 and room for an extra 2,000 patrons. The area under the stands was fitted for use by agricultural fairs.{{cite news |title=The Turf |work=The Boston Globe |date=August 25, 1874}} The park opened on August 25, 1874.{{cite news |title=The Turf |work=The Boston Globe |date=August 26, 1874}} Goldsmith Maid won the final race of the first meet.

Ebenzer Roberts, Burdett Loomis, and William H. Peck each served as track president during its early years.{{cite news |title=Connecticut Stock Breeders' Association |work=Massachusetts Ploughman and New England Journal of Agriculture |date=March 4, 1876}} Alexander Harbison was president from 1878 until 1885, when Morgan Bulkeley won a proxy battle to become president of the Connecticut Stock Breeders' Association.{{cite news |title=Trotting at Hartford |work=The New York Times |date=April 27, 1878}}{{cite news |title=Charter Oak Park Politics |work=The New York Times |date=February 10, 1885}} Charter Oak Park was a member of the Grand Circuit from 1876 to 1894.{{cite book |last1=Gocher |first1=William Henry |title=Fasig's Tales of the Turf |date=1903 |publisher=W. H. Gocher |location=Hartford |page=21 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I8lEAQAAMAAJ |access-date=4 October 2022}}

In addition to holding harness races, Charter Oak Park also hosted college track and field events and bicycle races.{{cite news |title=Connecticut State Fair |work=The New York Times |date=September 11, 1878}}{{cite news |title=College Records Broken |work=The New York Times |date=May 9, 1897}}{{cite news |title=Swift Wheeling |work=The Boston Globe |date=September 9, 1886}} From 1874 to 1881 the Connecticut Agricultural Society used the park to host the Connecticut State Fair.

In 1893, the passed an Anti-Pool bill. This ended both horse racing and bicycle racing at Charter Oak Park, as the bill prohibited leasing the property for racing purposes for prizes.{{cite news |title=No Trotting at Charter Oak Park |work=The New York Times |date=April 19, 1893}}

On April 4, 1896, the track was purchased at auction by Henry Kennedy for $20,810.{{cite news |title=Charter Oak Park Sold |work=The Boston Globe |date=April 5, 1896}} Shortly thereafter, the park was acquired by Andrew J. Welch, who hired William B. Fasig as manager. Welch brought horse racing, including Grand Circuit races, back to Charter Oak Park in 1897.{{cite news |title=Time Was Fast |work=The Boston Globe |date=June 7, 1897}}

On June 16–17, 1905, the track hosted an automobile meet, which included AAA championship race won by Barney Oldfield.{{cite news |title=Oldfield Lost |work=The Boston Globe |date=June 17, 1905}}{{cite news |title=Car Capsized |work=The Boston Globe |date=June 18, 1905}} The park hosted many other motor races, including a 1911 race between an automobile and a biplane.{{cite news |title=Aeroplane Beats Automobile |work=The New York Times |date=May 31, 1911}}

In 1906, 12 acres of the Charter Oak property were sold to the Chatford Company for the construction of Luna Park. The amusement park attracted controversy by operating on Sundays in defiance of the law. Although illegal, the $50 fine was much less than what the park would bring in on a Sunday. In 1908, the park was acquired by the Connecticut Fair Association, which ran it until its closure in 1910.{{cite web |last1=Leach |first1=Gene |title=The Scandalous Luna Park |url=https://www.ctexplored.org/the-scandalous-luna-park/ |website=Connecticut Explored |publisher=Connecticut Explored |access-date=8 October 2022}}{{cite web |title=Luna Park: A 20th-century Story of Amusement and Morality |url=https://connecticuthistory.org/luna-park-a-20th-century-story-of-amusement-and-morality/ |website=Connecticut History.org |publisher=CT Humanities |access-date=8 October 2022}}

In 1908, the first Connecticut Fair was held at the park. In 1910, Welch sold Charter Oak Park for $175,000 in order to fund a more elaborate fair.{{cite news |title=Welch Sells Charter Oak |work=The Boston Globe |date=March 31, 1909}} The 1911 fair saw President William Howard Taft attend some of the day's Grand Circuit races and deliver a speech.{{cite news |title=Taft Sees Horses Race |work=The New York Times |date=September 8, 1911}} The following year presidential candidates Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt and Governor Simeon E. Baldwin spoke at the fair.{{cite news |title=Candidates to speak at Charter Oak |work=The Boston Globe |date=August 9, 1912}} In 1929, the Connecticut State Fair, which had never been financially successful, was canceled. The Grand Circuit races were held that August instead of during Labor Day week when the fair was held.{{cite news |title=State Fair Passed Over |work=The New York Times |date=September 8, 1929}}

In 1931, Chase National Bank took possession of the property.{{cite web |last1=Leach |first1=Gene |title=Racing at Charter Oak Park |url=https://www.ctexplored.org/racing-at-charter-oak-park/ |website=Connecticut Explored |publisher=Connecticut Explored |access-date=8 October 2022}} In 1937, Pratt & Whitney purchased Charter Oak Park in order to construct a new factory there.{{cite news |title=Hartford Building Programs |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=March 16, 1937}} The track buildings were torn down that year and Pratt & Whitney moved into their new factory in 1939.{{cite news |title=Hoof Prints |work=The Boston Globe |date=September 13, 1937}}{{cite news |title=Niles-Bement-Pond Rate Of Incoming Orders Ahead of Shipments |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=September 13, 1940}}

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{{AAA tracks}}

Category:1874 establishments in Connecticut

Category:1931 disestablishments in Connecticut

Category:Buildings and structures in Hartford, Connecticut

Category:Defunct horse racing venues in the United States

Category:Defunct sports venues in Connecticut

Category:Sports venues completed in 1874

Category:Sports venues demolished in 1937