Pioneer Race Course
{{Short description|Former horse race track in San Francisco, California}}
File:Races! Pioneer Race Course advertisement.jpg
Pioneer Race Course, also known as the Pioneer Race Track,{{Cite web|url = https://library.sfgenealogy.org/directory/san-francisco-county-directory/1863/|title = San Francisco Directory|date = 1863|access-date = 2022-04-20|website = SFGenealogy.org}} was a horse race track opened in March 1851, in the southern Mission District of San Francisco, California.{{Cite web|url = http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/v58-3/v58-3williams.pdf|title = The Del Mar Race Track 75 Years of Turf and Surf|website = San Diego History|first = Amy|last = Williams|access-date = October 12, 2014}}
Pioneer was the first race course in San Francisco.{{cite web | url=http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist5/vanish.html | title=Vanished Waters of Southeastern San Francisco | publisher=The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco | access-date=12 October 2014 | author=Sharpsteen, William Crittenden}} At the time that it was built, no streets existed in the neighborhood. After construction, it appears to have been bounded by 24th St. (formerly Park St.), 26th St. (formerly Navy St.), Capp St., and Florida St.{{cite web | url=http://foundsf.org/index.php?title=The_Mission_Becomes_a_Resort,_1850s | title=The Mission Becomes a Resort, 1850s | publisher=FoundSF | access-date=12 October 2014 | author=Lockwood, Charles}}
It was funded and built by local businessmen George Treat and his brother John Treat.{{Cite news|url=http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/When-the-Mission-District-was-home-to-horse-racing-7467987.php|title=When the Mission District was home to horse racing|work=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=2017-08-26}} The racetrack was physically built by Alfred Green.{{Cite web|url = http://ec2-50-17-237-182.compute-1.amazonaws.com/docs/landmarks_and_districts/LM206.pdf|title = SAN FRANCISCO CITY PLANNING COMMISSION RESOLUTION NO. 13559|date = August 19, 1993|access-date = October 4, 2014|publisher = City of San Francisco}}
The race course was sold to the San Francisco Homestead Association in 1862 (or 1863) for $500 per acre, but would be worth $20,000 per acre within a decade.{{Cite web|url = http://foundsf.org/index.php?title=REAL_ESTATE_SPECULATION_STARTS|title = Real Estate Speculation Starts|access-date = October 12, 2014|website = FoundSF|last = Lockwood|first = Charles}} Lots within the property were auctioned in 1864. Early houses built within the property are now part of the Shotwell Street historic district,{{cite web|title=South Mission Historic Resources Survey Historic District Description- Shotwell Street Victoriana|url=http://www.sf-planning.org/ftp/files/Preservation/South_Mission/Shotwell_Street_Victoriana_comp.pdf|publisher=San Francisco Planning Department|access-date=2 March 2014}} and another house within the property may be the oldest remaining home building in San Francisco.{{Cite web|url = http://burritojustice.com/2010/10/15/treat-treatise/|title = Treat Treatise|date = October 15, 2010|access-date = October 12, 2014|website = Burrito Justice}}
Historical events
On May 21, 1854, the Pioneer Race Course was the site of a duel between lawyer George T. Hunt and his friend Numa Hubert, an ex-member of the California state assembly. On the third round, Hunt was shot in the abdomen and died.{{Cite book|title = Silent Traveller in San Francisco|url = https://archive.org/details/silenttravelleri00chia|url-access = registration|last = Chiang|first = Yee|publisher = W. W. Norton & Company|date = November 1, 1964|isbn = 978-0393084221|pages = [https://archive.org/details/silenttravelleri00chia/page/366 366]}}{{Cite web|url = https://legacy.sfgenealogy.org/sf/vitals/sfobihs.htm|title = SFgenealogy Obituaries and Death Notices|access-date = 2022-04-20}}{{Cite web|url = http://www.onevoter.org/2012/05/the-hubert-hunt-duel/|title = The Hubert-Hunt Duel on One Voter Project|date = May 20, 2012|access-date = October 12, 2014}}
In October 1854, the race course was the site of the stock show at the first California State Fair.{{Cite book|title = Appendix to the Journals of the Forty-Third Session of the Legislature of the State of California|publisher = California|year = 1919|pages = 365|volume = 5|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=LsVBAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA365}}
From 1862 until 1863 (some sources report 1865), the site of the course served a civil war encampment called Camp Alert for the 2nd California Cavalry, before they moved to Salt Lake City, Utah.{{Cite web|url = http://www.militarymuseum.org/CpAlert.html|title = Camp Alert|website = The California State Military Museum|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110613025608/http://www.militarymuseum.org/CpAlert.html|archive-date = 2011-06-13}}
The course was the site of a celebration of the completion of the San Francisco-San Jose Railway in October 1863, and for a time also served as the railway's San Francisco station.{{Cite book|title = Bonanza Railroads|last = Kneiss|first = Gilbert|publisher = Stanford University Press|year = 1954|isbn = 9780804724135|pages = 37–39|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7FWrAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA37}} The positioning of the course, as well as the later built nearby Union Race Course, appear to have affected the placement of the railway's extension into the city, and therefore still affects local property lines.{{Cite web|url = http://burritojustice.com/2009/01/29/mission-history-as-revealed-by-creeks-streams-lakes-and-lagoons/|title = Mission History as Revealed By Creeks, Streams, Lakes and Lagoons on Burrito Justice|access-date = September 14, 2013}}
Maps
File:1857 Map of San Francisco's Mission District showing the race courses.png|1857 Map showing Pioneer Race Course and nearby Union Race Course (West at top of map)
File:1864 Pioneer Race Course Tract.jpg|1864 San Francisco surveyor showing Pioneer Race Course Tract (housing tract made from the Course's land) (East at top of map)
File:1861 Map of San Francisco, showing Pioneer Race Course.png|1861 Map of San Francisco, showing Pioneer Race Course (North at top of map)
References
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Category:Sports venues in San Francisco
Category:History of San Francisco
Category:Mission District, San Francisco