Historic Track

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Historic Track

| nrhp_type = nhl

| nocat = yes

| image = Historic Track, Goshen, NY.jpg

| caption = A trotter working out on the track

| location = Goshen, NY

| nearest_city = Middletown

| coordinates = {{coord|41|24|08|N|74|19|10|W|display=inline,title}}

| area =

| built = 1838

| architect =

| architecture =

| designated_nrhp_type = May 23, 1966{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=403&ResourceType=District|title=Historic Track|date=2007-09-14|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2007-09-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605234529/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=403&ResourceType=District|archive-date=2011-06-05|url-status=dead}}

| added = October 15, 1966{{NRISref|2007a}}

| visitation_num =

| visitation_year =

| refnum = 66000560

| mpsub =

| nrhp_type2 = cp

| designated_nrhp_type2 = November 17, 1980

| partof = Church Park Historic District

| partof_refnum = 80002735

}}

The Historic Track (officially Goshen Historic Track) is a half-mile (900 m) harness racing track in Goshen, New York. It was opened in 1838 and has been in operation ever since, the oldest continuously operated horse racing track in North America.{{cite web |url= http://www.ustrotting.com/trackside/trackfacts/pdf/goshen_historic.pdf |title= Goshen Historic Track |access-date= July 23, 2007 |archive-date= August 8, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110808234331/http://www.ustrotting.com/trackside/trackfacts/pdf/goshen_historic.pdf |url-status= dead }} {{small|(20.3 KB)}}, retrieved from ustrotting.com July 23, 2007.

Informal horse races had been held along neighboring Main Street, now part of NY 207, since the 1750s. The current track site was first used in 1838 when a ⅓-mile (530 m) circle around a circus ground near the south end of the track was cleared and prepared for regular racing. Later it would be succeeded by an oval track perpendicular to the current one, then a long square track around the whole site, until the current track was built in 1873.Interpretive panel near track entrance, visited July 25, 2007.

In June 1873, Ulysses Grant, then President of the United States, attended races at the track{{Cite web |last=Cronin |first=Brian PJ |date=2022-05-17 |title=A Guide to Goshen NY |url=https://upstater.com/a-guide-to-goshen-ny/ |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=Upstater |language=en}} as he was in town to check on the two children of the late John Aaron Rawlins, for whom Grant served as legal guardian.{{Cite web |date=2020-02-11 |title=ULYSSES S. GRANT |url=https://www.wgpfoundation.org/historic-markers/ulysses-s-grant/ |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=William G. Pomeroy Foundation |language=en-US}}

File:Historic Track mural in Goshen post office.jpg]]

Regular events were held at the track until the late 1970s, when the parimutuel machines were taken out. Today the track operates a three day racing festival around the July 4th weekend, and more recently an additional day of racing around Labor Day.{{Cite web |date=2018-05-29 |title=Harness Horse Racing Track {{!}} Goshen Historic Track New York |url=https://goshenhistorictrack.com/goshen-historic-harness-racing-track/ |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=Goshen Historic Track |language=en-US}}

The track was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1966 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places as 'Historic Track' later in the same year, when the National Register was created. The grandstands seat 2,200 fans.{{Cite journal|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Historic Track|url={{NHLS url|id=66000560}} |format=pdf|author=Richard Greenwood |date=December 9, 1975|publisher=National Park Service}} In 1980, it was identified as a contributing property to the Church Park Historic District. The Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, run by a separate organization, is located nearby.

In 2017 a fire, possibly started in the blacksmith's shop, destroyed some of the barns and stables on the property. The horses housed in them were saved; the blaze did not affect the grandstand or any of the other buildings on the property.{{cite news|last=Norton|first=Erika|title=Fire destroys barns, stables at Goshen Historic Track|url=http://www.chroniclenewspaper.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20170824/NEWS01/170829978/-1/news/Fire-destroys-barns-stables-at-Goshen-Historic-Track|newspaper=The Chronicle|publisher=Straus News|date=August 24, 2017|accessdate=October 16, 2017}} Replacement barns for those that burned were dedicated in 2019.{{Cite web |title=New barn and stalls rise from the ashes of Historic Track fire |url=https://www.warwickadvertiser.com/news/sports/new-barn-and-stalls-rise-from-the-ashes-of-historic-track-fire-BB553506 |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=www.warwickadvertiser.com |language=en-US}}