Brooklyn Race Track Update 2012

The Forgotten Horse Race Track: Brooklyn Driving Park
By Kenneth J. Lavelle

The first Brooklyn Driving Park was established in 1849 to fulfill a need seen by area farmers and wealthy horse owners to display and
race their horses in local competition. Very little historical documentation remains today of its early existence and its location. One
local map indicated it was located West of Ridge Road and North of the New York Central Short Line Railroad tracks in Brooklyn Twp.
This specific map was a 1927 G.M.Hopkins map seen at the Cleveland Public Library Map Room and at the Brooklyn Historical Society.
This writer believed that this Brooklyn Driving Park was privately owned and used by its club members in some sort of early “Minor
League” harness racing circuit. Not everyone living in the area of the horse track visited there since gambling was frowned upon by most
area church going members in the 1850s through the several decades it was in operation. It is thought that those who visited this harness
racing track lived outside of rural Brooklyn Township. This was a close knit farming community where some Brooklyn residents were
members of the Parma Grange whom held their monthly meetings in Parma Heights Village, Ohio.

The second Brooklyn Driving Park was established in 1923 as a half-mile long horse harness racing track in rural Brooklyn Township, Ohio
It was renamed and indicated on local street atlas maps as the “Brooklyn Race Track”. The Brooklyn Driving Park was located in old
taxation districts twenty and twenty-one in Brooklyn Township on land parcels there once owned by Anthony James and J. T. James in 1852
(later William James in 1856). A review of old tax records indicated the James Family at one time owned land from Ridge Road to what is
now Tiedeman Road in Brooklyn, Ohio. This horse-driving park seems to predate the quarrying of sandstone with clay in land parcel number
twenty-one by The Cleveland Stone Company in 1858 East, South and North of the Brooklyn Driving Park. The quarrying of the sandstone
seems to be done on limited basis there between the years 1858 and 1929 when that special type of sandstone was needed. Area maps and
lists of active quarries seen by this author did not indicate it as a working quarry site after 1870, 1905, 1920, and 1927. The use of the two
land parcels has been changed by the construction of the I-480 highway with its opening in August 1986 with the later development of the
Ridge Park Square Shopping Center in 1987, along Ridge Rd and Northcliffe Rd. Brooklyn became a city in 1951.

Horseracing had started as being a small part of local Agricultural Societies who were formed to display in public areas locally grown farm
produce, promote new farming methods and machinery, and the type of horses needed to plow the soil. The small Village/City of Cleveland
had its local Agricultural Society Fairs in 1819, 1829, and 1849. Also, in 1849 more rural area townships had their own fairs to promote
agriculture. These early agricultural fairs were the beginning of what we now know today in 2009 to be local County Fairs in Ohio. It is a
very common event by many persons to attend their local County Fair today. The Cuyahoga County Fair was established at the county fair
grounds in Berea, Ohio since 1891. The local Granges, Four-H clubs and other local farm family related organizations in collaboration with
the Cuyahoga County Farm Bureau has displayed their members farm skills and crafts there to the general public.

Horseracing Tracks were very common in Cuyahoga County and in the State of Ohio at that time. Laws were passed and enforced to not
allow legalized betting on horses that raced at early tracks. For example, The Village of Cleveland had outlawed the racing of horses on its
streets in 1820. Thus creating the need to have such horse races on private property with flat racetracks. Gambling, games of chance, card
playing and betting on horses at racetracks were not legal under the 1803 State of Ohio Constitution. Local papers reported to its readers in
the 1850s that they and many of their readers did not support or want to have gambling and betting on horse racing. Those persons who
attended and did bet on horse races were not representative of most local communities and most voters in the State of Ohio. As the reader
might expect, support for such illegal events created a horseracing industry and lobbyists in the state legislature to allow gambling and
betting on horse races. In the 1850s and future years, it is believed that professional gamblers and later organized crime rackets controlled
such early horse race tracks in Cuyahoga County and elsewhere. This is the reason why racetracks gained such a poor reputation over time.

In 1870, wealthy horse owners created a horse racing set of tracks to run their horses on privately owned tracks in Ohio and other nearby
states. The Cleveland Driving Park Company, Inc. was established to run and maintain a house-racing track in Glenville in Newburgh
Township, Ohio. The Cleveland Driving Park Company was the first amateur driving club in America. They had built the racetrack course
with the Northern Ohio Fair Association, who had decided to have a large agricultural fair across the street in Glenville. A bridge was built
over St. Clair Avenue to connect the two events held in 1870. Wealthy citizens had wanted to host the Ohio State Fair in Cleveland in 1870,
but the State Board of Agriculture refused to hold it in Cleveland, Ohio. The Agricultural fair promoted agriculture, horticulture and the
mechanical arts, as well as horse trotting harness racing. Some eighty-seven acres of land was purchased there for the buildings to be erected
there at East 88th and St. Clair Avenue. This local area annual agricultural fair next to the Glenville racetrack operated until 1881.The
Cleveland Driving Park Company was in existence until 1908. In 1872, the Quadrilateral Circuit met at Glenville. and considered it to be the
“model” for the “Grand Circuit” of Harness racing which was established in 1873. The “Grand Circuit” was formed to become the “Major
League” of harness racing in America. Cleveland was a member of this “Grand Circuit” along with such cities as Buffalo, Utica, and
Rochester, New York. The Brooklyn Driving Park did not seem to become part of the “Grand Circuit” since it was not mentioned on the list
Publication Editor/Writer Ken Lavelle kenlavelle@juno.com (440) 230-2777
Not printed with ink or on paper provided by NOCSIA funds.
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of horse race tracks that he saw while researching this paper. The Brooklyn Race Track was part of the “Ohio Short Ship Circuit” from 1923
to 1926. By the 1890s, it was not uncommon for some townships to have at least one local harness horseracing track on private property. For
example, in Rockport Township in Cuyahoga County Ohio there was the Rockport Hamlet Driving Park. It operated from 1890 to 1903.
During the term of Ohio Governor M. Herrick (1904-1906) lobbyists in the Ohio Legislature passed a bill to allow betting at Ohio racetracks.
The bill was sent to his desk for his signature to allow betting legal at Ohio racetracks. He vetoed the bill and was not re-elected as Governor.
Many if not all, flat harness and thoroughbred horse racing tracks were closed in Ohio soon after Governor’s Herrick’s veto. It is thought that
this is when The Brooklyn Driving Park was closed. Area thoroughbred horses were trained and stabled there in the mid 1920s.The State of
Ohio enforced the law that no betting on horse races were allowed in Ohio. The horse racing and gambling interests were also slowly closed
down when local townships with local flat race tracks were annexed by larger nearby cities. For example, the City of Cleveland annexed
Glenville in 1905. The horse-racing track there was closed in 1908 as a result. Horse racing and now more professional gambling interests
were forced to move to Warrensville Twp. in 1909, where they created the Village of North Randall, Ohio. This was where horse racing and
betting on horse races could be legal since it was the major industry in the Village. For gamblers in the Cleveland area, it was possible to
travel to several local horse tracks there via local streetcar lines and transfer to a special streetcar line operated by the track interests in the
Village of Colett, Ohio until such service ended in 1925. Then patrons of the track could drive their own private cars to reach the track to bet
on horse races.

In May of 1923, a local race track promoter and owner of the Brooklyn Race Track, a Mr. King, announced his willingness to make the West
Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds the location of a track in his circuit and was prepared to invest $60,000.00 in expanding its horse racing
facilities. He also proposed to build a four or five story modern hotel in Berea, Ohio. The concept of a race track and gambling connected
with it was condemned by the Board of Trustees of Baldwin-Wallace College. It was not in the best interests of the College nor the Village of
Berea. Their objections were supported by the leading citizens. The proposed modern hotel and a horse race track did not become reality.

The Brooklyn RaceTrack opened in June 3, 1923 with Mr. John A. King as the General Manager. The Lessees of the Brooklyn Track land were
Thomas McGinty and Gerald Haynes. Those who attended the harness races in 1923 listened to live music provided by an orchestra between
harness horse races held there. Buses and private cars entered through a large wooden arch built in 1924. The Brooklyn RaceTrack reported
its held races in The Cleveland Press newspaper in early September 1924. There were three types of daily races held: Classified Pace – Purse
$500.00. Named Pace – Purse $5,000.00. Classified Trot – Purse $500.00. Each type of harness race had three daily heats (races) to
determine the winner of the purse. Some of the daily races had different names associated with them. For example: The Classified Trot was a
Mile long heat. The 2:15 Trot was also a Mile long heat. The Brooklyn Pacing Derby – Purse of $500.00 consisted of Three-Quarter Mile
heats. Enlarged copies of harness race results were made from microfilm of The Cleveland Press for the reader. Both the Brooklyn Race
Track and the Cranwood Race Track competed for customers during 1924 Labor Day Holiday racing meets. It was thought that both the
Brooklyn and Cranwood Rack Tracks had independent owners and operators that did not coordinate races meets. The Brooklyn RaceTrack
appeared to have been a harness horse race track operation in from 1923 to1924. It became a thoroughbred horse race track in 1925 to 1928.

In 1924, there was a large fire of unknown origin that burned down the large wooden grandstand and several other racing related wooden
structures. The out of control file spread out along a local railroad spur leading to a automotive car manufacturing company burning it to the
ground. The Marsh Car Company later went out of business and restarted again on the site producing machine parts. So any horse harness
training and stabling of horses there at the Brooklyn Driving Park was thought to be no longer in business. However, area maps found in
2009 dated from 1924, 1927 (Hopkins map), 1928 wall maps and a 1939 Street Guide indicated its location and specific buildings there in
Brooklyn Village, Ohio found at the CPL Map Room in Cleveland, Ohio for the Brooklyn Driving Park. It is possible this harness racetrack
was operating until 1938. Undated later area photos from the 1940s show the Brooklyn Airport, but not a trace of the racetrack and its oval.

In the fall of 1924, thoroughbred horse racing began on September 24, 1924 at the Brooklyn Race Track. Harness racing was on the decline.
Area farmers now, as in the past, were not breeding the normal supply of trotter and pacer harness racing horses for horsemen to use at
tracks. It was thought that with the declining number of working farms, farmers in Ohio and elsewhere were not breeding horses for harness
racing. Only a rare farmer in a rural community was raising horses with the advent of the automobile in 1920s becoming widely available.
However, there was another reason why the thoroughbred horse racing changed there. It seems illegal gambling was being done there
the lessees of the land Thomas McGinty and Gerald Haynes were taken to Garfield Heights Municipal Court to prove their innocence in an
illegal betting and gambling operation with local bookmakers and gambling clubs/dens in the area. The City of Cleveland’s Public Safety
Director, Mr. Barry, was on a crusade to eliminate illegal gambling in the Cleveland area here. The plan was to close the race track since it
was a” nuisance”. The race track was not closed down for cause of being a nuisance in 1924 or 1925.

In 1925, there were only thoroughbred horse racing and auto car racing with modified FORD engines racing at the Brooklyn Race Track.
An advertisement for Motor Car Races at the Brooklyn Race Track was posted in the Cleveland Plain Dealer August 23, 1925 on page 18..

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The number of allowed weeks of horse races was reduced by the track owners by mutual agreement when the racing season ended early.
However, Mr. King was still in charge of the Brooklyn Race Track in 1925. The moment to curtail early the 1925 local racing season was
the result of local race track managers that Cleveland was getting an overdose of racing. For the good of the sport in 1926 it might be
good to end the racing season early. Also, the Brooklyn Track faced a added difficulty of attracting a good list of entries, with the Maple
Heights Track meet off, because of shipments (of race horses) from distant tracks to compete in local races. This represented a change for
local horse racing. The local economy was indicating signs of a economic slowdown in employment levels and manufacturing orders
placed. The general public was not attending horse races as often and in large numbers as in earlier years to support this new local sport.
There could have been a change in management and owners of the Brooklyn Race Track or programs in 1925 as the result of these events.

In 1926, The State of Ohio had a problem enforcing its ban on betting on thoroughbred and harness horse racing. The State Attorney General
announced that it was now up to the Sheriff in each county how many and which specific racetracks could be open to the general public.
Betting on horseraces was still illegal in the State of Ohio. The Sheriff in Cuyahoga County allowed the closed Brooklyn Driving Park to
open for an eighteen-day running race called the “Ohio Handicap” starting on August 29, 1926. This thoroughbred horse racing meet was for
three-year old horses and up for a mile and one-sixteenth contest. During the eighteen-day race schedule horse trailers transported some eight
hundred (800) horses from the Eastside Cranwood Driving Park to the Westside Brooklyn Driving Park. The Plain Dealer had very good
coverage of the event and indicated in its promotion that a large wooden arch was the gateway to the Brooklyn Driving Park. The wooden
arch was similar in Design to that used at the amusement “Euclid Lake Park” and the wooden arch built on Public Square for 1896
Centennial Celebration in Cleveland. Horse racing fans could board public buses at Public Square in Cleveland riding them to and from the
Brooklyn Driving Park for those eighteen days. A horse called “Zoya” won the first opener race of two-year old Thoroughbred horses in a
five-and-one-half furlong dash infront of a large crowd a newly built grandstand and clubhouse in Brooklyn Township, Ohio. The telephone
number of the Brooklyn Driving Park was Lincoln 1 – 1681 found in a Criss-Cross Agency Directory of Cleveland, O. Vol. 3, dated 1926,
page 477. The race activity was changed to be only fifteen days according to The Cleveland Press newspaper on September 1926.

This writer was not really sure why the “Ohio Handicap” meet was held at the Brooklyn Driving Park. There were many questions in his
mind. One question was if the meet was held in Brooklyn, what was the reason why it was moved there from Cranwood Race Track?
It had become a Village in 1927. The Village of Brooklyn now had an entertainment landmark indicated on local maps producing revenue.
This writer thought it was possible the Cranwood race track was having modernization or new construction of buildings while races for the
eighteen days were held in Brooklyn Village, Ohio. A Cleveland area map dated 1928 indicated the racetrack at Cranwood, ‘The New
Cranwood’. The owner of the land where Brooklyn Driving Park was located did not seem to be indicated on local land record plat books
when checked by this writer in 2009. He thought the land was leased from the Belt & Terminal Realty Co. to the Brooklyn Driving Park,
which seemed to run by the Brooklyn Driving Park Club based on it phone listing number. How often and what type of persons visited this
racetrack? What, if any involvement in the operation of Brooklyn Driving Club George Smith might have had was not clear. He was the sole
owner of the Cranwood Race Track in 1926. There was not much documentation to find and consider in 2009 to answer his questions.

It was not an easy task to attempt to identify landowners of Parcels Number 20 and 21 in Brooklyn Township and Village. For example,
a routine check for Land Parcel ValuationTax Record Cards at the Cuyahoga County Archives yield no results. It seems all the parcel cards
dating from 1935 to 1964 were missing from the archives when a request was made to view them. The current plat books in the County map
room had no old information to mention for this paper. One old quarry section was listed as Parcel 1 with the Guardian Title Company as
owner. However, a check done of the Belt & Terminal Realty Company, the only name on some of the maps seen, reveled it was first
incorporated in October 21, 1905 and cancelled on October 21, 1930. The filing agent was T.J. Hopkins, who had the following associates
J.G.W. Cowles, M.A. Fanning, W.R. Hopkins & Others. It was established as a corporation for profit. The second filing of the same name
was Incorporated August 24, 1932 with David J. Hopkins as filing agent with the following associates Carl F. Shuler, Elvi Kahkonen, and
Anna Kahkonen. The B & T Realty Company appeared to be inactive as of March 12, 1973. W.R. Hopkins was once City Manager in the
1920s for theCity of Cleveland. He supported the idea of having the Cleveland Short Line Railroad route South of Cleveland to run through
train traffic around Cleveland. The Cleveland Airport was later named for W.R. Hopkins; it had opened in 1925. Voters changed from the
City Manager form of local government in 1929 to the current Mayoral form. This writer thought the land where the Brooklyn Driving Park
was located may have been leased form the Belt &Terminal Realty Company while it was open there in 1926.

At some point in 1926, some of the horse stable buildings were used by local road building improvement crews to store their equipment in,
mules, and housed the work crews in the vacant buildings of the former racetrack. Bob Depew’s interview by Lynette Filips mentioned this
in her June/July 2001 series articles. After 1926, the racetrack had limited use as a stabling and training facility of horses for other racetracks.
It seems the 1926 races scheduled at Brooklyn Race Track failed to entertain the trotters and pacers according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer
newspaper article dated January 12, 1927 in the Cleveland Sports Section on page number 21.

In 1927, horse harness racing was not scheduled for the Cranwood and Brooklyn Race Tracks as part of the normal racing season. Why?
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The stewards of the Ohio Short Ship Circuit who met at the Hollenden Hotel in Cleveland, did not include both the Cranwood and
Brooklyn Race Tracks in the 1927 schedule. Cranwood Track was not represented at the meeting. Mr. King, who represented the
Brooklyn Race Track, refused the scheduled race meet date offered at the meeting for the start date of August 1, 1927. There had been
much discussion at the meeting which race track in the Ohio Short Ship Circuit would be scheduled for the race date of July 4th, 1927. The
Fremont, Ohio race track was scheduled for the July 4th, 1927 starting date. The Ohio Short Ship Circuit horse racing meet schedule for
1927 listed the folowing Ohio towns: Norwalk; Beulah Park, Columbus; Mansfield; Canton; Fremont; Toledo; and Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The Grand Circuit was held at North Randall. It was thought the Ohio Short Ship Circuit no longer existed in 2010. It was not clear to
this writer how the race horses were transported to each track in 1927. Perhaps by interurban train, Railway Express, or by horse trucks.
It is thought no horses were transported by rail along the Cleveland Short Line to the Brooklyn RaceTrack via its nearby 1919 industrial spur.

In 1928 and 1929 the Brooklyn Race Track was not listed as a scheduled race meet location in the Ohio Short Ship Circuit.. This writer was
not sure what ever happened to Mr. John A. King and his management staff in the late 1920s.It seemed that the horses that ran in the Ohio
Short Trip Circuit that won local races might be able to race in the Grand Circuit later in year. During the writing of this paper, the name of
Mr. Edward A. Pohlman of Cleveland, Ohio was seen several times related to the Brooklyn Race Track. It seems Mr. Pohlman introduced the
successful “Pohlman Plan” of Thoroughbred Horse Racing at Longwood, Florida in 1926. This “Pohlman Plan” was used at the Brooklyn
Race Track for the thoroughbred horse races in 1928. However, no evidence existed in 2010 when harmess horse races ran at the Brooklyn
Race Track in 1928 since it was not part of the Ohio Short Ship Circuit. Mr. Pohlman lived in Shaker Heights, Ohio. He was the General
Manager of the Longwood, Florida race track . He was national and a local horse racing promoter here in Cleveland.

With the hard times of the Great Depression in that began in October 1929, all the horse racing tracks were closed in 1930 in Cuyahoga
Cuyahoga County and the State of Ohio. In 1931 and 1932, to the Sheriff in each county could decide how many and which specific
racetracks could be open to the general public. The Brooklyn Village Council wanted to re-open the Brooklyn Driving Park in 1931 and
passed a council resolution to allow horse racing again at The Brooklyn Driving Park. The Village Council members openly defied the order
by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff to keep the driving park closed. It is not known if any horse racing occurred that year. However, it is known
that none was held at the Brooklyn Driving Park in 1932. Why? When betting on horse races in the State of Ohio was legal in June 1933, the
Cuyahoga County Sheriff announced that any horse tracks closed in 1932 would not be open in 1933. The Sheriff thought three (3) local
racetracks were enough for the public to bet at in Cuyahoga County: Cranwood, Thistledown and Berea. The Bainbridge track in Geagua
County was also allowed to open in 1933.The Erie Railroad provided train passenger service to and from the Bainbridge track on open
scheduled race days for horse race fans. The Brooklyn Driving Park in Brooklyn Village was not among the short list of open horse
racetracks in Cuyahoga County in 1933. It is thought that a German Soccer Team used the abandoned race track area for a practice and
playing field in the 1930s on Sundays for a time and then stopped. A soccer ball was dropped from a plane flying above the field area
to start each game held.

In 1933, Mr. Pohlman, the locally and nationally known race track promoter, planned a schedule rehabilitation of the Brooklyn Race Track.
This update of the long vacant race track was done with the knowledge of legalized gambling in Ohio at its race tracks was to become a
reality. However, Mr. Pohlman died on April 5, 1933. The scheduled rehabilitation of the Brooklyn Race Track did not take place!
The Brooklyn Race Track remained vacant, closed, and unused until all the remaining structures there were removed after March 1938.

On May 28, 1933 (during the Memorial Day Holiday) there was an automobile car race held at the Brook Park Speedway Race Track which
was located at Brook Park Road and West 139th Street. This auto race track was a ½ mile long type of track. There seemed to be no auto
racing done at the Brooklyn Race Track in Brooklyn, Ohio in 1933. Any events held there in the 1930s were difficult to document.

It is thought no more horse racing was done at the Brooklyn Driving Park between the years 1933 and 1938. No mention of horse racing
activity was reported in the Plain Dealer newspaper Sports Pages when reviewed that was on microfilm at the Cleveland Public Library by
this writer in September 2009 for this paper. An account of horse racing activity there in the mid-1930s could not be confirmed from a
source at the Brooklyn Historical Society in 2009. He was told as a child to not to cross the nearby railroad tracks and play there since the
horse track was still in operation. However, it must be noted here that this writer was given a copy of an aerial photo taken from an airplane
of the Brooklyn Driving Track dated March 31, 1938. The Aerial photo taken seems to indicate a possible operational judging stand and
many abandoned stable buildings just South of a possible still working track. It could have been possible horse races were held and not
reported to the Plain Dealer Sports Desk.Another interesting item that supports the case of the Brooklyn Driving Park being open is the fact it
was still indicated on a 1939 Printed Street Guide One question this writer could not answer when comparing the 1926 race photo in the
Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper to the March 1938 aerial photo was this one:How and when was the clubhouse and the 2nd large wooden
grandstand removed at the Brooklyn Driving Park? Who operated this racetrack? It appeared to this writer that the races were run by a
private group of individual investors. Specific details were unknown in 2009. What was the normally scheduled racetrack season there?
This writer thought the harness racing and/or thoroughbred race season might have been from April to November based on incomplete,
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vague, and limited 1926 and 1931 season information. Also, he thought the horse races there might have been only held for one or two brief
periods of several weeks during the normal racing season. Then, the racetrack had little or no racing activity scheduled. In 2009, this writer
was shown a small piece of white-pained wood saved from the Brooklyn track in 1932. He was not sure what type of building it was from
there. It is possible some or many of the stable buildings and other buildings where the horse owners had stayed in temporary for local races,
when held, were torn down. Two nails were at each end of this white pained (on all four sides) stick-like piece; perhaps from a chair, ladder
or once on wall type divider or stairway rail. Part of the old racetrack was used as a runway take-off and landing runway for airplanes at the
nearby Brooklyn Airport between 1940-1963.

The City of Cleveland purchased a large undeveloped abandoned land parcel in 1949 at the end of McGowan Avenue intended to be a future
park playground. A small dirt road went through in this wild, undeveloped future park over the B&O R.R. track leading into Brooklyn, Ohio
towards Tiedeman Road. Property boundary lines were not clear in the early 1960s there since there were no posted signs or fences in the
wild open area. This writer visited the area briefly as a young child to play there. He found birds, animals, trees, wild berry bushes, saw an
pumping gas well and open pools of water stored there for some reason East of the B&O R.R. tracks. He may have entered a small portion of
The Roseland golf Course (1932-1985) which seems to have owned land West of Tiedeman Road as indicated on an Official Arrow Map of
Cleveland and Vicinity. This dated 1945 map was compiled by The Cleveland Directory Company. Their clubhouse was located East of
Tiedeman as indicated on old area maps seen years later on a dated 1933 Hopkins map. The City of Cleveland did not develop this large land
parcel into a playground park for kids to play in until 1994.This writer did not visit there often in the 1960s. It was possible that others may
have explored further into the wild woods of Brooklyn towards the Brooklyn Racetrack area from that point.

There was an old unconfirmed story from the 1920s that children playing on the Brooklyn side of the B & O R.R. tracks. North of this future
park was a small train like depot station where one might purchase train tickets. Outside steps led to a small window that opened to an office
type room. It was still possible in the early1920s to see old railroad tracks on the ground, overgrown with grass and weeds leading off the
main track towards this building and leading away into the woods. Where the tracks led remains a mystery to those that saw them in the
1920s and told to this writer in 2009. There were oil and gas wells in the area in the 1960s. It is possible train cars were there to carry
pumped oil or gas out of the fields. No local railroad maps available in 2009 could verify this story. This writer’s point of mentioning this is
there were wooded areas where children visited where that had a sense of mystery in the Cities of Cleveland and Brooklyn.

This paper was written to further explain and update Lynette’s initial Old Brooklyn News newspaper articles of the Brooklyn/South Brooklyn
areas concerning the racetrack and stone quarries. She had mentioned to me in 2003 as she read the August 1926 Special Edition of The
Cleveland News concerning the Parma Centennial celebration that horse racing had began again at the Brooklyn Race Track. I did not know
much concerning the race track operations. She was there in Parma Heights to view the newly dedicated Ohio Historical Marker for the First
Rural Brick Road in The United States, along the Wooster Pike from Olde York Rd. to Ablion, Ohio completed in 1896. One of the bricks
from her garden was amongst those placed in the ground infront at the base of the historical marker. In 2009, this writer decided to do some
more research and write a paper concerning the Brooklyn Driving Park for others to read in the future. In 2009, on the local ballot registered
voters were given the choice to vote for or against allowing gambling Casinos in Ohio. The point being made here is legalized gambling in
the area was common in the past and after 2009 when legalized gambling Casinos were allowed by the voters in the State of Ohio. There had
been Bingo Games allowed that were held at the local Catholic Churches since the 1930s. The Ohio Lottery was created in 1974. The State
of Ohio allowed Keno games in 2008 and Mega Powerball lottery ticket sales in 2010.

The Brooklyn Racetrack and old quarry pits areas were for many years an attractive nuisance type area. Children and adults seemed to like
to visit the area in the woods along the railroad track off Ridge Road in Brooklyn. All sorts of persons seemed to be in the woods there at
different times years ago. There were homeless and unemployed men, teenagers who did not attend school that day, hobos, hikers, picnic
parties were held there, neighborhood persons walking along railroad tracks who avoided the working train crews, etc. In the process of
writing this paper, the writer learned some old interesting stories. In the 1930s through the 1950s, hobos left the moving trains in the area and
visited local persons asking for food as they traveled. Some persons lived in small caves inside the old quarry walls for a time. Gypsies were
known to camp there at times in the 1940s. In the early 1950s, a circus was permitted hold its public performances North of the old Brooklyn
Racetrack, a resident told me. Mr. Frey told this writer that he once found an old horseshoe at the old racetrack site in the 1950s.

As time passed, the oval track circle disappeared as a local landmark with grass and weeds growing where the horses once ran. In time the
old race track became a memory, its old quarried sandstone pits located nearby became an area of mystery to visitors and residents alike
along the New York Central Railroad Cleveland Short Line double train tracks in the Cleveland, Ohio area. It is this writer’s hope some of
the readers’ questions concerning this mysterious area have been answered.

Quarry Map Sources:
“Cuyahoga County Surveyor’s Record Volume No. 5, 1849-1893” (43). Brooklyn Driving Park not mentioned here. Perhaps not surveyed.
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1852 “Map of Cuyahoga County, Ohio”. Harris H. Blackmore, Architect and Civil Engineer. Published by Stoddard and Everett.
Map courtesy of the Beford Historical Society Museum. Placed on-line in 2009 for website http://ww.railsandtrails.com. J. T. James listed.
“Treasurer’s Duplicate of Taxes Assessed in Brooklyn Township No. 6 For Year 1856.” No listing for Brooklyn Driving Park or Quarry.
1858 “Map of Cuyahoga County”. G. M. Hopkins Jr. C.E. Published by S.H. Matthews. www.railsandtrails.com. Brooklyn Township.
1874 The Atlas of Cuyahoga County. Brooklyn Township. Stone quarry indicated on this map in Parcel number 21 owned by A. James.

1897 Township Map: Southern Ohio Insert Map of Cleveland, Ohio in right corner. Number 91, printed in Volume 34, The New Volumes
of the Encyclopedia Britannica 1903. This was part of a general Ohio map in two parts: Northern Ohio and Southern Ohio in The Century
Altas by the Century Company, copyrighted in 1897 and 1902. Good map for reader to learn where local townships once were located here.

1903 Brooklyn Township Map. H.B.Stranahan Company, Chicago, Ill.
1904 United States Department of The Interior Geological Survey Map. Cleveland, Ohio – Cuyahoga County. Surveyed 1901-1902.

1905 U.S. Department of Agriculture. Soil Map Cleveland, Ohio Sheet Number 29. Field Operations of the Bureau of Soils. Base map from
U.S. Geological Survey Sheets. Soils surveyed by J.E. Lapham and Charles M. Mooney. The A. James Quarry was indicated as having
Miami Stoney (MS) Loam. West and North of the A. James Quarry was a soil condition indicated as being Dunkirk (D1) Loam which was
part Loam and Heavy Clay Loam. Loam is defined as being a rich soil composed of clay, sand and some organic matter. Clay is needed to
manufacture bricks.The Cuyahoga Brick and Shale Company along Brookpark Road (1904) (later Cleveland Building Supply Co.) was
nearby. Cleveland Stone Company owned part of the land parcel along with Mr. James indicated on area maps in 1858, 1874, 1903, and
1912. The 1905 map was the former property of The Amerada Petroleum Corporation Map No. 29. Purchased by this writer on E-Bay March
2004.The quarries in the area may have been for clay and sandstone at various times in time past. This is what this writer thought after
viewing the 1905 soil map. This base sheet map of 1904 also indicates The Valley Driving Park near Clark Avenue in Cleveland, O. Not
indicated on all 1910 maps. Driving Parks were popular in Cleveland area. Brooklyn Driving Park not indicated since this was soil map of a
quarry pit area.

1912 Sanborn Insurance Co. Map. “Cuyahoga County and its Suburbs”. Brooklyn Village.

1920 G. M. Hopkins Co. Map. “Plat Book of Cuyahoga County. Volume 3. 1920”. Revised 1924. Philadelphia, Pa.

1953 United States Department of The Interior Geological Survey Map. Cleveland South Quadrangle – Ohio – Cuyahoga County.
7.5 minutes Series (Topographic) Updated 1963.
The remains of an old Cleveland Quarries Company operation on a part of parcel 20/21 South of the CSL railroad tracks along Brookpark
Road was visible in an aerial photo number 14093 taken in March 31, 1962. Photo was part of the “Cleveland Aerial Photographic Index”.
Cleveland Aerial Survey Company. Aerial photos in Ohio taken from 1925 to 1970s available for viewing at WRHS Library Archives and
Genealogical Center, Cleveland, Ohio. P.G. 75 Container Number 23. Cleveland Quarries Company was the owner of 20 parcel on 1927
G.M. Hopkins Company map along Brookpark Road West of Ridge Rd. Bill Hatchel visited this area of the old large quarry North of the
R.R. tracks. This writer could only examine the 1938 and 1962 photos to see the ramp-like road leading down into the quarry pit in 2009.

David A. Simmons. “True Grit: Ohio’s Industrial Grindstones”. Timeline. Ohio Historical Society. February-March 1991. Volume 8,
Number 1. Pages 40-45.

Ken Lavelle. “Berea Mahler Museum and History Center Tour”. NOCSIA Newsletter. NOCSIA tour in Berea, Ohio March 23rd, 2002.

David A. Simmons presented very good program concerning Ohio sandstone quarries at the NOCSIA Annual meeting December 14, 2002
at Cleveland State University in the Rhodes Tower. He distributed handouts for Ohio sandstone quarries dating from the 1870s to 1915 and
ideas how to investigate a quarry in Ohio.

John A. Bownocker. “Building Stones of Ohio”. Columbus: Geological Survey of Ohio, 1915. Fourth Series, Bulletin 18.

“Report on the Building Stones of the United States, and statistics of the Quarry Industry for 1880”. Report of the Tenth Census of the
United States. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1884. Volume 10.

James A. Hieb. “Sandstone Center of the World: Images and Stories of Quarry Life in Amherst, South Amherst and Lorain County, Ohio”.
Published by Quarrytown.net Publishing, South Amherst, Ohio 44001. 2007. ISBN 978-0-6151-4653-9.
www.quarrytown.nettripp42@aol.com . Chapter 1 – Quarry History. Pages 25, 30, 32-33. On July 26, 1886 The Cleveland Stone Company
Page 6 3/1/2012

was incorporated. Many small operating and formerly independent sandstone quarries were included into The Cleveland Stone Company.
This writer believed that the A. James Quarries in Brooklyn Township were one of these small independent sandstone quarries now to be part
of The Cleveland Stone Company. It was further thought that William James of Brooklyn Twp. had purchased the former stone quarry in
Lorain County in 1863 once known as the John Elliott Quarry in North Amherst. Mr. James operated that Lorain County quarry for 15 years.
The Brooklyn Twp. quarry was thought to be in operation from 1858 to the 1870s and then on a limited basis until 1929.The 1927 Hopkins
map of Brooklyn Twp. indicated that the Cleveland Stone Company still owned a parcel of land South of the CSL train tracks to Brookpark
Road West of Ridge Road. The WRAH tour group visited the Sandstone Village in Amherst, O. in the Spring of 2009 for a tour of their
museum. Many, if not all small quarries eventually became part of the Cleveland Stone Co. The stone quarries along the B&O R.R.
Cleveland to Lester, O. Branch seemed to be part of Cleveland Stone Company by 1929 when the Cleveland Quarries Company was formed.
The NOCSIA group toured two South Amherst quarries and their cut stone mill operation in Lorain County in June 2002. This writer was
very surprised to learn the company had a contract to cut sandstone stone grave markers for the three National VA cemeteries in Ohio for the
U.S. Veterans graves. Soon after the tour the company moved to Erie County to work a new sandstone quarry area. Planned development of
the old South Amherst quarries never became reality there. The former abandoned quarry pits became local lakes filled by rainwater and
snow during the cold Ohio winters.

“The Sandstone Story”. Brochure distributed during the WRAH tour in 2009 in the 1881 Grange hall meeting room. The Amherst Historical
Society. 113 South Lake Street, Amherst, Ohio 44001. 2002 address: 710 Milan Avenue, Amherst, Ohio in May 2002 NOCSIA Newsletter.
Email: amhersthistory@centurytel.net. Website: www.amhersthirotricalsociety.org .
Plans were being made in 2009 to have the general public in the future be able to view existing incomplete records of the Cleveland Quarries
Company now in storage at the Sandstone Village in Amherst. Telephone: 1-440-988-7255 Fax: 440-988-2951.

2009 “Cuyahoga County Plat Book Number 443”. Page 14. Quarry is Parcel One – Guardian Land Title Company. Parcel ‘A’. .3.474 acres.
There was no 1935-1964 Land Tax Parcel Valuation Record Cards available at the Cuyahoga County Archives to view when requested.

The old remaining sandstone quarry this writer visited and photographed on 11/23/2009 with Mr. Frey seemed like one that was cut down
from the top and sides. There were no remains of quarry type buildings nearby or normal stone cutting markers on the walls seen. Small
rock outcroppings were seen in the cliff across from the quarry and photographed. These were thought to be the ‘caves’ persons lived in
that Lynette wrote about in her Old Brooklyn News articles. The old quarry had not been quarried for a very long time – perhaps 100+ years.
It was located behind Mr. Frey’s backyard, between the CSX R.R. tracks and I-480 on a small strip of land about 250 feet wide.

John, the archivist at the Brooklyn Historical Society showed this writer a photo of the old stone house the James Family once lived in on
11/24/2009. The two-story sandstone house was similar in design to that of the Old Stone Tavern along the Wooster Pike in Parma Twp.

Racetrack Map Sources:
1924 Map. Mount Castle Map Company. “Cleveland and Cuyahoga County”. Large wall map.
1927 G. M. Hopkins Map. “Plat Book of Cuyahoga County. Volume 6. 1927”. Partial Revision 1943. Brooklyn Driving Park page 30.
Parma Heights Village page .31.
1928 Map. Mount Castle Map Company. “Cleveland and Cuyahoga County “. Large wall Map. Date Stamped at CPL with date of 1932.
1939 Map. Mount Castle Map Company. “Cleveland and Cuyahoga County Street Guide”. Section Number Page 15.
1940(?) Map. “AAA Cleveland and Cuyahoga County” folding street map purchased on e-bay. Two maps: No date on either side! 1920/30s.
“Official Arrow Map of Cleveland and Vicinity”. Compiled by The Cleveland Directory Co. 1945. Three East Side racetracks indicated.

Racetrack Aerial Photo Sources.
Aerial photo number 14093 taken in March 31, 1962. Photo was part of the “Cleveland Aerial Photographic Index”. Cleveland Aerial Survey
Company. Aerial photos in Ohio taken from 1925 to 1970s available for viewing at WRHS Library Archives and Genealogical Center,
Cleveland, Ohio. P.G. 75 Container Number 23. “Brookpark Road Factory Area”. Part of the western oval was still visible from the air in
March 1962. This is the portion that seemed to have a local creek flowing through it southward at an angle in a 1938 aerial photo.

Donated aerial Brooklyn Airport area photo dated March 21, 1938 given to the Brooklyn Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio.
(0-29-779G-112). Copy of photo was given to this author by the Brooklyn Historical Society in October 2009.

Newspaper Gambling Article Sources:
“Cleveland Newspaper Digest”. Items from the Daily True Democrat – 1850. Numbers 876, 877. Page 112.
Annuals of Cleveland Volume 33. 1850. Part One. Ref F449.C6.U6.
Topic: Gambling and Lotteries “Cleveland Newspaper Digest”. Items from the Daily True Democrat – 1852. Numbers 790, 791,792, and
Page 7 3/1/2012

873. . Page 130. Annuals of Cleveland Volume 35. 1852. Part One. Ref F449.C6.U6. Brooklyn Driving Park not mentioned in Annuals
1849-1852. Also as topic entry, not mentioned in Annuals of Cleveland in 1929, 1930, 1932 to 1938.
“STOP ALL BETTING AT AKRON RACES”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. June 16, 1922. Page 21. Betting common in early 1920’s.
“Showing Where Gambling Flourishes in County”. The Cleveland Press. December 2, 1925. Page 1 and 2. Brooklyn was one area!
“Barry Furious at attack on Police in Gambling trial”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. December 8, 1925. Pages 1 and 5. Illegal Track Wire
thought to have existed from the Brooklyn Rack Track to the Clinton Club near West 73th Street in Northern Brooklyn Area. Persons arrested
and brought to trial were Mr. John Sullivan and Mr. John Radke in Judge Corlett’s Courtroom investigation of suburban gambling in
Cleveland.

Decline of Supply of horses for Harness Races
“Farmers Stop Raising Racers: Trotters and Pacers Becoming Scarcer”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. January 7, 1923.

Note: This writer was told that a Law was passed that limited the number racing meets that could be held at a specific community track.
Thus, the racing horses and their owners did a lot of traveling to various racing meets at different tracks in a season.

W. F. Hozworth, Men of Grit and Greatness: A Historical Account of Middleburg Township, Berea, Brook Park and Middleburg Heights.
1970. Reprinted 1986. Chapter 10: Hotels and Taverns. Page 39. Mr. King was the owner of the Brooklyn Driving Park and local race track
circuit promoter. He wanted to have another horse racing track at the County Fairgounds and build a nearby hotel for race fans. Not done.

Brooklyn Driving Park (1923-1926. Closed 1927-38?)
There were no horse races listed in The Cleveland Press for years 1921, 1922 when checked on March 13, 2010. Three heats each
held in 1924. There were three types of daily races held: Classified Pace – Purse $500.00. Named Pace – Purse $5000.00. Classified Trot –
Purse $500.00. The Classified Trot was a Mile long heat. The 2:15 Trot was also a Mile long heat. The Brooklyn Pacing Derby – Purse of
$500.00 had Three-Quarter Mile heats. There seemed to a combination of trotting horses and harness horses racing there in 1923 and 1924.
The present day location of the Brooklyn Diving Park oval can be found by overlaying the 1937 and 2007-2008 Cleveland Area street
atlases. I-480 went through the center of the oval. Saybrook Drive at the following streets are at the northern point of the oval: Bentwood
Drive, Forest Edge Drive, Roadon Road, and Elizabeth Lane. Melody Lane and Idlewood Drive are at the southern portion of the former
oval. I-480 was open in August 1986. The western portion of the oval is visible in a 1962 aerial photo and still existed in early 1980s.

Stuart M. Bell. “The New Brooklyn Race Track is the scene of the finest races”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. January 7, 1923.
Stuart M. Bell. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. January 10, 1923.
“Ohio To Be Scene of Much Racing: Grand Circuit, Ohio Short Ship and Fair Meetings Will Keep Horses Here Most of Summer”.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer. February 18, 1923. Page 2-D. Sports Section.
Stuart M. Bell. “Patrick Todd Trots to Victory in Two Heats in Brooklyn Feature Race”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. 6/6/1923. Page 22.
“Sports – Plenty of Them”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. July 1, 1923. Page Two-D. John King was General Manager of Brooklyn Track.
“FAST ONES MOVE ON TO BROOKLYN”. July 8, 1923. TheCleveland Plain Dealer. Page 3-D. Music between races at Brooklyn.
Stuart M. Bell. “FAVORITES FLASH IN FIRST AT BROOKLYN”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. July 10, 1923. Page 22.
Stuart M. Bell, “Miss Myrtle L, New Arrival From East, Cops 2:30 Race at Brooklyn”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer 8/7/1923. Opening Day!
There were no races held at the Brooklyn Track on Friday August 10, 1923 out of respect for the memory of President Harding who died.
Stuart M. Bell, “Edna Early Forces Kate Hal to New Track Record in Brooklyn Park Feature. The Cleveland Plain Dealer.8/9/1923. Page 20.
“3,000 TURN OUT DESPITE RAIN THREAT”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. August 23, 1923. Page 15.
“Harness Racing Has Year of Prosperity”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. December 30, 1923. Page 6-D.
“HARNESS RACERS HERE THIS WEEK”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. June 1, 1924. Page 3-D. Six Day meet scheduled. Ad on page.
“STOKES COPS 2 BROOKLYN WINS”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. June 6, 1924. Page 22.
“Doc Vail Nips 3 at Brooklyn”. The Cleveland Press. September 2, 1924. Page 19.
“Trotting Stake is Brooklyn Feature”. The Cleveland Press. September 3, 1924. Page 17.
“Alisal Wins at Brooklyn Again”. The Cleveland Press. September 4, 1924. Page 21.
“Gay Worth, 5 to1, Wins at Brooklyn”. The Cleveland Press. September 5, 1924. Page 21.
James J. Doyle. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. 9/25/1924. Brooklyn threw its coming out party as a running track...
It is thought by this writer that the 1924 fire that destroyed the Brooklyn Race Track buildings took place in the Fall of 1924 since races were
held there in September 1924. No specific date was seen when viewing old newspaper articles. A fire was put out at track by visiting
firefighters from Cincinnati, Ohio. Details not in local papers to verify and comment further.
“Gamblers have 4 arrested in Return Crusade Their Attorney Charges Barry Has Played Favorites”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
October 10, 1924. Final 7 O’Clock Edition. No. 284. Page 1. Lessees of the Brooklyn Track land were Thomas McGinty and Gerald Haynes.
“Brooklyn Track Chart”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. June 19, 1925. Page 2-B.
Page 8 3/1/2012

“Racing Season May End With Randall Finale”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. August 22, 1925. Page 1. Track owners met and all agreed to
end season early. Too much horse racing held. Brooklyn track faced added difficulty of attracting a good list of entries.
“Showing Where Gambling Flourishes in County”. The Cleveland Press. December 2, 1925. Pages 1 & 2. Brooklyn was one area!
“Good Riders to Perform at Brooklyn”. The Cleveland News. Volume 85. No. 239. August 27, 1926. Page 18. “The Riding Colony” here.
“Bets Likely At Brooklyn Oval”. Parma Heights Section of the Cleveland News. The Cleveland News. Sunday, August 29, 1926. Page 7.
James E. Doyle. “Eighteen-Day Running Race Meet Opens at Brooklyn Oval Tomorrow: West Side Replaces East Side as Scene of
Thoroughbred Racing”. Star Jockeys and Mounts Move Over From Cranwood for West Side Affair. The Plain Dealer. Sunday, August 29,
1926. Page Two – B.
“Brooklyn Race Track Opens Turf Followers See Little Chance of Halting Bets Despite Opposition by Crabbe”. The Cleveland News.
August 30, 1926. Page 18. A.G. Crabbe began an anti-gambling effort. Closed Thistledown. Brooklyn open. Sheriff went on vacation.
“Big Crowd Sees Zoya Win Brooklyn’s Opener”. The Plain Dealer. August 31, 1926. Microfilm Box 434 CCPL Fairview Library.
Zoya won by two lengths! Affectionate Mary, Second. Glenmary, Third. Golden Dust, Fourth.
“Attack Crabbe Crusade: Thistledown Attorneys File Surprise Move To Strike Out Petition”. The Cleveland News. 9/1/1926. Page 2.
“Veterans of Turf Perform In Good Style”. The Cleveland News. 9/1/1926. Page 19. The News was a good local Sports source here.
George Lewis. “Eames Supreme in Meet at Brooklyn”. The Cleveland Press. 9/2/1926. Page 24. Associate Track Manager H .J. Kline.
“MUDDERS Go At Brooklyn”. The Cleveland Press. 9/2/1926. Page 24.
George Lewis. “Ex-Jockey is Now Racing Official”. The Cleveland Press. 9/3/1926. Page 26. Brooklyn meet to close September 15th.
“Clevelanders Stage Battle at Brooklyn”. The Cleveland News. 9/3/1926. Page 24. Brooklyn Race Track called ‘The Local Colony”.
“Town Marshals Will Organize To Enforce (Anti-Gambling) Law”. The Cleveland Press. 9/5/1926. Page 7. Enforcement lax and limited.
“Brooklyn Chart”. The Cleveland News. 9/6/1926. Page 15. List races scheduled to be held and race results later were printed.
George Lewis. “Consisent Joe Clashes With Silent Lil Monday”. The Cleveland Press. 9/6/1926. Page 12. Trackman’s Selection Chart.
George Lewis. “Local Dopesters Draw Horse Laugh”. The Cleveland Press. 9/7/1926. Page 21. Brooklyn was a 15-day meet in 1926.
George Lewis. “Another Chesnut In Brooklyn Light”. The Cleveland Press. 9/8/1926. Page 24. Ad on Page, Admission only $1.00.
George Lewis. “Old Plater Still Fast”. The Cleveland Press. 9/10.1926. Page 30.
George Lewis. “Joe Campbell Starts After Ninth Victory”. The Cleveland Press.9/13/1926. Page 26
“Seven Go In Race Feature”. The Cleveland Press. 9/14/1926. Page 25.
“Cranwood Set For Return of The Bangtails: 15-day Meet Planned at George Smith’s Park. The Cleveland News. 9/16/1926. Page 23.
“No Half-Mile Harness Meet in Cleveland: Cranwood and Brooklyn Out; Short Ship in Meeting”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. January 12,
1927. Page 21. Mr. John King was still the Track Manager in 1927.
Cleveland Plain Dealer Index 1931. Page 183. Topic: Horses – Cuyahoga County. Ref F449.C6.C535X .
The Newspaper Index Project . District 4. Work Projects Administration in Ohio, 1941.
“Sulmann O.K.’s Race Betting: Contribution System Wins His Approval”. The Cleveland News. 3/7/1931 Page A1. 100% is his demand.
“Racing In County O.K. With Sheriff”. Cleveland Plain Dealer. March 8, 1931. Page four-A.
“Only 3 Tracks To Run, Sheriff Says: Thistle Down, North Randall, and Cranwood are Favored Ones”. Cleveland Plain Dealer.
March 9, 1931. Page 5 Column 1. The Sheriff thought three racetracks in area were enough for the Cleveland area.
“Sheriff John’s Dilemma”. Editorial Page. Cleveland Plain Dealer. March 10, 1931. Page 1 Column 2.
Local communities urged to regulate race track meets and new State Legislation regulation permitting home-rule control urged.
“Brooklyn Council approves race meet in Defiance of Sheriff’s Order”. The Plain Dealer. March 24, 1931. Page 1 Column 4.
“Racing Here On April 25”. The Cleveland News. March 24, 1931. Chart of scheduled 1931 Race Season April 25 to November 28, 1931.
Brooklyn Racetrack on list, 18-day races planned. April 25 to May 16, 1931 for this racing district. Contributions. Page 22.
“Brooklyn Village Awaits Word to Open Track”. The Brooklyn News-Times. April 3, 1931. Idea was to employ unemployed workers. P. 1.
“Calls Meeting of Track Representatives to Arrange Meets”. Cleveland Plain Dealer. April 16, 1931. Page 2 Column 7.
There was no racing held at Brooklyn Track. No mention in The Cleveland News for April 25 and April 26, 1931 when checked at CPL.
George Lewis. “ Habletonian Stars Clash in Matron Stake at Randall: Governor White to See Legal Betting Inaugurated Here”
Cleveland Plain Dealer. July 1, 1933. Page 19. Legalized Betting Photos
Lynn Heinerling, “6,000 At Randall For Legal Bets: Gov. White, Mayor Miller, and Sulzmann at Grand Opening”. Cleveland Plain Dealer.
July 2, 1933. Pages A1 and 6 column 7.
Mary B. Stavish. CWRU. “Horse Racing” for “The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History”. 1996. Pages 539-540. Yearbooks – WRHS.
• Cleveland Bicentennial Commission (Cleveland, Ohio), David Van Tassel (Editor), and John Grabowski (Editor) ISBN
0-253-33056-4.
Brooklyn News on microfilm General Reference Microfilm Center. May 1981 to December 2005. Call Number XX 5571122.1).
Lynette Filips. “Ridge and Brookpark: An important community crossroads”. The Old Brooklyn News. March 2000. Pages 6 and 7.
Lynette Filips. “Returning to the History of The Mather Airport”. The Old Brooklyn News. June 2001. Pages 6.
Lynette Filips. “Hobos, Hooch, and Brick Making”. The Old Brooklyn News. July 2001. Page 8. Microfilm copying completed July 2009.
Old Brookyn News newspapers sent to Cleveland Public Library for processing 2005. Completed when this writer asked to view them in
Page 9 3/1/2012

2009. Old Brooklyn News newspapers from 2005 to 2009 were planned to be sent to CPL for microfilm processing in 2010.

Mr. Edward A. Pohlman (1870-1933).
“Ohio Tracks in New Race Loop”. Cleveland Plain Dealer. March 1, 1925. Page 1-B. Elected President of U.S. Circuit of Thoroughbred
Racing.
“Mansfield Opens Harness Session”. Cleveland Plain Dealer. June 18, 1925. Page 18.
Cleveland Plain Dealer. March 1, 1926. Page 1-B.
Cleveland Plain Dealer. March 27, 1926. Page ?. Director of U.S. Circuit of Thoroughbred Racing.
“Sees World’s Record With Star Pacer”. Cleveland Plain Dealer. November 28, 1926. Page 3-B. Managing Director – Seminola Park, Fla.
James E. Doyle. “Hoss Talk Rules Short Ship Meets”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. February 8, 1928. Page 23 Annual meeting to
schedule 1928 racing meets. Motion pictures of Grand Circuit training scenes were shown by Edward A. Pohlman.
Cleveland Plain Dealer. June 3, 1928. Page ?.
Cleveland Plain Dealer. June 18, 1928. Page 18. “Pohlman Plan” of racing at Brooklyn Race Track.
Cleveland Plain Dealer. July 19, 1928. Page 8.
“Mansfield Set to Stage Ohio Short Trip Event”. Cleveland Plain Dealer. July 22, 1928. Page 8-C .
Cleveland Plain Dealer. June 15, 1930. Page ?. Address on Fontenay Road, Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Cleveland Plain Dealer. April 6, 1933. Page 17. Death Notice that he died on April 5th at his home.
Cleveland Plain Dealer. April 7, 1933. Page 17. Death Notice that he died on April 5th at his home.
Cleveland Plain Dealer. April 8, 1933. Page 20. Mention of Mr. Pohlman’s rehab plan for the vacant Brooklyn Race Track, now in doubt.
Cleveland Plain Dealer. April 8, 1933. Page 20. Death Notice that he died on April 5th at his home. Services planned for April 10th.
Cleveland Plain Dealer. April 10, 1933. Sports Section Column. Nationally-known promoter of horse races...died at age 63.

Brooklyn Race Track Related Ohio Short Ship Circuit References
“Ohio to Be Scene of Much Racing”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. February 18, 1923. Page 2-D.
“Fast Ones Move On To Brooklyn”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. July 8, 1923. Page 3-D.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer. December 16, 1923. Page 3-D.
George Lewis. “Joe Campbell Struts in Cranwood Feature”. The Cleveland Press. 9/16/1926. Page 22.
1927. Page 21. Mr. John King was still the Track Manager in 1927. No races for Brooklyn Race Track in 1927. No later mention seen for
years from 1927 to 1939.

Cranwood Track (1923-1956?) Cranwood Driving Park had an office at 417 Schofield Bldg, in Cleveland. Listed in the1922
ClevelandBusiness Directory on page 2793 under Amusement – Places of.
The Cranwood Track in its later years had small sized auto races held there. Closing date 1955 mentioned by Mr. Tom
Businger to author after NORM 2010 Annual Meeting May 8, 2010 in Seville, Ohio. Walt Stoner mentioned a company
called 'Gem' built several buildings on the property.
Stuart M. Bell. “COLUMBUS TRAINER HAS GOOD STABLE” . The Cleveland Plain Dealer.June 16, 1923. Page 19.
“Sports – Plenty of Them”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. July 1, 1923. Page Two-D.
Ad for Brooklyn Track. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. July 8, 1923. Page 2-D. Sports Section.
“New Cranwood Puts In Novel Scoreboard”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. August 23, 1923. Page 15. George E. Smith, Owner.
“RAIN MAKES ‘EM SAD AT CRANWOOD”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. August 29, 1923. Page 17. Frank Woodland, Manager.
“CRANWOOD WILL SHOW 20 EVENTS”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. June 1, 1924. Page 3-D. New half-mile track in 1923.
Both Cranwood and North Randall Open. The Cleveland Press. 8/17/1926. Page 13.
“Here Are Scratches For New Cranwood”. The Cleveland Press. 8/17/1926. Page 20.
“Long Prices Go Over at Cranwood”. The Cleveland Press. 9/2/1924. Page 19.
“Cranwood To Have 15 Days”. The Cleveland Press. 9/11/1926. Page 12.
“Sensational Charlie Healy to Ride at New Cranwood Meeing”. The Cleveland Press. 9/14/1926. Page 24.
George Lewis. “Joe Campbell Out Of Money For First Time”. The Cleveland Press. 9/14/1926. Page 25.
George Lewis. “Joe Campbell Struts in Cranwood Feature”. The Cleveland Press. 9/16/1926. Page 22.
1927. Page 21.
James E. Doyle.“Healey Captures Daily Double in Triple Victory at Cranwood Park”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. September 13, 1956.
Cranwood Track was still in operation!

Page 10 3/1/2012

Hillside Driving Park (1905-1912)
Independence Historical Society. “The Story of Independence”. King's Court Communications, Inc., Brunswick, Ohio: 1979. Page 96.
J.Merkle's ½ mile race track held races every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon. Sulky races held there about 1905 to unknown date.
Thought not to be related to or with plans of the L.E.T. R.R. Interurban train from Cleveland to Akron, Ohio which was never built. Mr.
Merkle closed his saloon on Brecksville Road and opened a bar under the grandstand when horse racing was held. Layout of driving park
indicated on 1914 map of Independence Twp., Ohio. Mrs. Merkle provided sandwiches and lemonade for about one hundred persons daily.
Kenneth Lavelle and Kenneth Pacanovsky. “The Forgotten L.E.T. Steam Railroad Route in Parma, Seven Hills, and Independence, Ohio
1906-1922”.First written 1977. Copyrighted 1985. Updated 1991 and 2011. L.E.T. R.R. Right-of -way route indicated on 1914 Twp. map as
dividing the ½ mile course in half. Not listed in area city directories seen as an operating racing track after 1912.
Hillside Driving Park Article. Sports Page. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. June 25, 1910.
Hillside Driving Park Article. Sports Page. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. May 23, 1912.

Maple Heights Track (1921-1924)
The Maple Heights Track was ¾ mile long and triangular in shape located at Rockside and Broadway near the railroad tracks.
A local horse called ‘Black Gold’ from Maple Heights was a Ohio Derby winner who raced there. Track later became a baseball park.
Ad for Maple Heights Track. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. July 8, 1923. Page 4-D. Sports Section.
“Maple Heights To Open Meet May 17”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. December 28, 1923. Page 7.
Earle Ferris. “Stuart Polk Stable to Race Here”. The Cleveland Press. 9/5/1924. Page 28. A law limited number of races held at tracks.
Ad. “Running Races Today”. The Cleveland Press. 9/11/1924. Page 23. Ohio Derby held here in 1924. Moved to Thistledown 1925.
Earle Ferris. “Runaway Comes Back to Beat Favorite”. The Cleveland Press. 9/18/1924. Track closed 1925?.
George Lewis. “Old Plater Still Fast”. The Cleveland Press. 9/10/1926. Page 30.Gamblers in Maple Hts. 'Thomas Club' – Cleveland Press.
John Camanelli, “Black Gold cocktail adds some luster to Ohio Derby”. The Plain Dealer. July 26, 2010. Page D1.
John Camanelli, “The story behind the equine namesake”. Story of ‘Black Gold’ the race horse. The Plain Dealer. July 26, 2010. Page D1.

North Randall Track (1909-1975)
Ad. “Cleveland Grand Circuit Races: North Randall Track”. The Cleveland Press. July 2, 1921. Page 27.
Earle Ferris. “Five Races Today at North Randall”. The Cleveland Press. July 1, 1924. Sports Page and Photo.
George Lewis. “Rumor 12 Ovals to be in 1927 Grand Circuit”. The Cleveland Press. 8/27/1926. Page 28.

Letters To Writer: (Information concerning first Brooklyn Driving Park)
Reply for information concerning Brooklyn Driving Park and Brooklyn racetrack from the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office
dated August 27, 2009. The Brooklyn Diving Park had an incorporation date of September 7, 1849. No date given when it ceased
operations. Charter Number 61493.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Article. August 25, 1880. Mention seen of horse harness racing done at the Brooklyn Driving Park.

Reply for information concerning The Belt & Terminal Realty Company and Brooklyn Racing Club from the Ohio Secretary of State’s
Office dated September 30, 2009 The Belt & Terminal Realty Company was incorporated twice: in 1905 and in 1932. Not active in 1973.
The Brooklyn Racing Club was not filed as an incorporated entity according to a letter dated October 1, 2009. Any early records and those
In later years seemed not to be available to access for this paper. Perhaps the early records were destroyed in the 1924 fire at the racetrack.

Local Sources:
Mr. Frank Frigy, 10507 Leawood Oval, Stongsville, Ohio. Telephone: 1-440-238-5653. Horse stable/exercise boy at Brooklyn 1924-1927.
The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office and its office staff, 180 East Broad Street, 16th Floor, Columbus, Ohio 43215.
The Staff of the Western Reserve Historical Society and its Historical Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio.
Mr. Edwards and The Staff of the Cleveland Public Library Map Room – Main Branch. Cleveland, Ohio.
The Staff of the Cleveland Public Library History Department Room – Main Branch Sixth Floor. Cleveland, Ohio
The Staff of the Cuyahoga County Archives, Cleveland, Ohio.
The Brooklyn Historical Society who provided copies of old area photos. March 21, 1938 dated Aerial photo of race track and quarry area.
The Maple Heights Historical Society. Telephone conversation April 17, 2010.
Bill Hachtel of The Brick Collectors Association. 9801 Smith Road, Waite Hill, Ohio 44094.
The Old Brooklyn News and their readers to provided information to Lynette Filips for her many articles.
Brooklyn Councilman Mr. Greg Frey, City of Brooklyn, Ohio. Mr. Frey showed this writer the quarry area on November 23, 2009.
Page 11 3/1/2012

Judi Sheridan, Trustee of the Western Reserve Architectural Historians and Secretary of the Northern Ohio Council of Historical Museums.
Tom Hites and John G. members of the Brooklyn Historical Society. John did not find any mention of racetrack in 1932 Brooklyn papers.
The Early Settlers Association of the Western Reserve. Website: http://earlysettlers.org 3615 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, O. 44115
Telephone: 440-235-4441.
Walt Stoner. President of NORM in Medina County.
Tom Businger. 6158 Stratford Drive, Parma Heights, Ohio 44130.Worked at a local track before retirement.
Joe Estep. 19860 Meadowbrook Drive, Parma Heights, Ohio 44130. joestep@32@yahoo.com . He had four (4) old 1920s postcards
depicting auto racing at Brook Park Race Track. Found on Brooklyn tree lawn. Copies made and given to Ken in July 2010. Telephone:
216-281-2962. Auto race indicated in four photos dated May 28, 1933. Brook Park Race Track thought to be Brooklyn Race Track.
Why? An object in the distance is tall structure with a truck infront of in one photo. Thought to be 1924 entrance arch for Brooklyn Race
Track. Later discovered the tall building was part of the American Agricultural Fertizer Plant facility along the CCC&St. Louis R.R.
Auto races were held at Brook Park Speedway, Brookpark Road and West 139th Street. West of the closed Brooklyn Race Track.

Ohio Short Ship Circuit Reference Sources
“Ohio To Be Scene of Much Racing: Grand Circuit, Ohio Short Ship and Fair Meetings Will Keep Horses Here Most of Summer”.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer. February 18, 1923. Page 2-D. Sports Section.
“Fast Ones Move On To Brooklyn”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. July 8, 1923. Page 3-D.
Xen Scott. “Joke” Sweepstake Becomes A Fixture”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. December 16, 1923. Page 3-D. Annual meeting to schedule
1924 racing schedule to be held 1/4/ 1924.
“Harness Racing Has Year of Prosperity”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. December 30, 1923. Page 6-B.

Cleveland: Cranwood and Brooklyn Out; Short Ship in Meeting”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. January 12, 1927. Page 21.

“Short Ship Race Body Reorganized: Scheduled for 1928 Season”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. January 19, 1928.Page 24.
James E. Doyle. “Hoss Talk Rules Short Ship Meets”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. February 8, 1928. Page 23 Annual meeting to
schedule 1928 racing meets.
“Mansfield Set To Stage Ohio Short Trip Event”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. July 22, 1928. Page 8-C.

“Harness Moguls in Confab Here: Ohio Short Ship Stewards Arrange Short Sked this Season”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. February 6,
1929. Page 22. Short Season of only four weeks scheduled from May 23 to June 10th, 1929.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer. April 21, 1929. Track location for storage and training of horses to be raced at other tracks.

Book Reference and Article Sources for Governor Herrick: (January 11, 1904 to January 8, 1906)
The Cleveland Plain Dealer. February 2, 1905.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer. May 29, 1905.
“Sale of St. Clair Terrance Property”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. June 25, 1905.Page 8.
“Governor Lays Cornerstone”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. June 26, 1905. Page 5.
“Herrick is now a Mason”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. June 27, 1905. Page 7.
W.S. Couch. “The Paradise of Gamblers”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. August 13 1905. Pages 1 and 2.
W. S. Couch.The Cleveland Plain Dealer. August 14, 1905.
W.S. Couch.“Police Move as The Boss (Cox) Bids”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. August 15, 1905.Page 1 and2.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer. September 5, 1905.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer. September 24, 1905.
“No One Wants The Governor”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. October 11, 1905. Page 1.
“Herrick Calls Cox Stranger”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. October 19, 1905. Page 2.
“Herrick Rebukes Voters of Ohio”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. November 10, 1905. Page 1and 2. He lost Nov. 8 election.

James K. Mercer. “Representative Men of Ohio, 1904-1908 Administration of Myron T. Herrick:. F. J. Heer Press: 1908. WRHS Library.
Call Number F34H M554 1908. LCCN: 080033426. Governor of Ohio 1904-1905. Chisholm Racing Pool House Bill No. 222 vetoed in
early 1905. Pages 40-41 and 48. General discussion of his administration. Pages 1-48. Copy of book also available at CPL as reference.

James K. Mercer. “Ohio Legislative History”. 1909. Columbus, O.: F.J. Heer Co. CPL Call Number 328.771M53 and in storage.

Elroy McKendree Avery, “A History of and Cleveland and Its Environs: The Heart of New Connecticut”. The Lewis Publishing Company:
Chicago and New York: 1918. M.T. Herrick, Volume III Pages 560-563.
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W. R. Coats. “Cuyahoga County and The City of Cleveland”. 1924. Mr. Herrick, Page 143.

Richard F. Hamilton. ‘Good old days’ weren’t so great for teachers in 19th century”. Forum Page. The Plain Dealer. Sunday, August 30, 2009.
Page G3.Story of Mr. Herrick as a teacher and later Governor of Ohio 1904-1905.

The Biographical Annuals of Ohio 1906-1908. Volume 3. Table List of Ohio Governors 1787-1906 p.548. Governor Harris pages 542-545.

“The Governors of Ohio”. Published by the Ohio Historical Society. Columbus, Ohio: 1954. M.T. Herrick, pages 140-143.

Henry Stoddard Sherman. “Myron T. Herrick 1854-1929”. 1949. Cleveland Public Library. Main Branch History Dept. E 748.H45 S48.
Biographic of Ohio Governors. 1990 Book. (In Portage and Summit County Book.) F 497. P8 P8 1898A located at CPL.

This writer was told during his visit 10/17/2009 that Governor Herrick’s papers are on file available for viewing at WRHS Library Archives
and Genealogical Center, Cleveland, Ohio.

Evelyn Theiss. “The goodwill ambassador: In era of city’s influence, Myron Herrick earned power and the love of the French”. The
PlainDealer. October 18, 2009. Pages E1 and E9.

Book Reference Area Racetrack Sources:
Dwight Akers. “Drivers Up: The Story of American Harness Racing”. CPL 1938. WRHS 1947. G.P Putnam & Sons: 1947.
Call Number SF339 A315 1947. LCCN AGR 47000373. OCLC Number OCM026-43932
Philip D. Jordan. “Ohio Comes of Age: 1873-1900”. A History of the State of Ohio. Volume V. The Ohio Historical Society: 1943.p. 89-91.
In 1880, only six percent of horses raised in Ohio were raised to be thoroughbred racetrack horses.

“South Brooklyn: a brief history of that part of the City of Cleveland which lies South of Big Creek and West of the Cuyahoga River”. 1946.
James Ford Rhodes High School Class of 1946. CPL Downtown Main Branch Library. F449.C66J35X. It had no mention of the Brooklyn
Driving Park or the A. James Sandstone Quarry in it! Local telephone exchanges mentioned on page 88. South Exchange created 1889.
Lincoln Exchange added at South Exchange for points South to include Brooklyn. The South Exchange was located at 3026 Scranton Rd.
This facility was called by several names: South, Harvard, Lincoln, and Atlantic. In 1926, the Shadyside exchange was created and was
located at 3414 West 35th Street (State Rd). Shadyside had originally used manually operated equipment until 1940. Then modern cross-bar
dial equipment was installed. The office was divided into three specific units: Shadyside, Florida, and Ontario.

William Ganson Rose. “Cleveland: The Making of A City”. The World Publishing Company. Cleveland and New York: 1950.
Northern Ohio Agricultural Fair 1870-1881 page 370. The Cleveland Driving Park Company pages 371-173.

“The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History”. 1987 and 1996. Randall Race Track and “Grand Circuit” pages 723-724.North Randall Track p.
819-820. Gentleman’s Driving Club of Cleveland (1895) and League of American Driving Clubs (1901) p. 342. Glenville Race Track p.
453-454 and Harry K. Devereux. p. 918.

“Thistledown, Randall, Cranwood”. Pictorial Magazine. 1966. CPL Main Branch Library. Reference F324.35.03 T54 1966X.
George E. Condon. “Cleveland: The Best Kept Secret”. 1967. Early Race Track on Woodland Avenue between Brownell (East 4th) and
Perry Street (East 22nd) in 1846. Pages 144-146.

Richard Wager. “Golden Wheels: The Story of the Automobiles. Made in Cleveland and Northeastern Ohio 1892-1932. Published by The
Western Reserve Historical Society and the Cleveland Automobile Club. 1975. Fire from the Brooklyn Driving Park moved East and
destroyed the Marsh auto manufacturing facility (1920-1923) located along Ridge Road in 1924. Pages 194-197.

Peter C. Welsh. “Track and Road: The American Trotting Horse”. Smithsonian Institution Press:City of Washington, D.C. 1967. Reprinted
1969. Page 47. Footnotes in Chapter The Trotting Turf: 6. American Agriculturist, Vol. 16 (November 1857: New Series), p. 247. 7. Frank
Forester, Volume 2, page 230. Mention of early Agricultural Societies and the conflict with horse racing interests at early local fairs.

Philip A. Pines. “The Complete Book of Harness Racing”. Groset and Dunalp:New York. 1970. Pages 176-177, 191-193.
“Cleveland, Ohio, listed a half mile track in the 1850’s, races continuing for more than a score of years”. This writer believed he was
referring to the Brooklyn Driving Park in Brooklyn Township, Ohio. Before 1865, prior to the formation of the “Grand Circuit”, local tracks
Page 13 3/1/2012

made their own individual race meet schedules with other tracks.

George Ennor and Bill Mooney. “The World Encyclopedia of Horse Racing: An Illustrated Guide To Flat Racing and Steeplechasing”.
Carlton Brooks Limited: 2001. Printed in Dubai. Early U.S. History and Today pages 14, 15 and 32-33. Gambling in the U.S. pages 198-199.
Pari-mutuel gambling was allowed in Ohio in 1937. On-site slot machine revenue at small racetracks has helped them survive today.
CPL Item Number 0009162171939. SF 321.5.E56 2001.
Miscellaneous Sources:
Walter T. Chester. “Chester’s Complete Trotting and Pacing Record”. Compiled by Author. 1884. Containing summaries of all races trotted
or paced in the United States and Canada from the earliest date’s (1830s) to 1883. The Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio.
Names of various horses who won races and lost them are listed. Specific racetracks not mentioned for each horse where the rack was held.
All included in the one volume. The following are three examples. “Richard III. A.F., Cleveland, Ohio. (time: 2:44). 11/30/1859. $50.00.”
Page 596. “Reindeer. E. Russell. Cleveland, Ohio. 6/18/1860. $400.00”. Page 503. “Sally. Cleveland, Ohio. 1871.” Page 616.

Criss-Cross Agency Directory of Cleveland, O. Volume 3, dated 1926 on page 477. Brooklyn Driving Club telephone number LI 1-1681.
Kenneth J. Lavelle. “The History of Corlett Village, Ohio”. November 29, 2008.
Kenneth J. Lavelle. NOCSIA Newsletter. 2002 Visit to South Amherst, Ohio to tour the Cleveland Stone Company operations and quarry.
Local sandstone quarries listed for members prior to visit in South Amherst. Incomplete Cleveland Stone Co. records for quarries available.

Mapquest – Map –Street – City Road Maps. Ariel view of old racetrack area 2009. I-480 was built though the area of the old racetrack and
quarries, completed in 1986. Ridge Park Shopping Center was built in the area in 1987. Remains of one quarry visited by writer in 2009.

Enacted Laws of Ohio Concerning Horse Racing
Enacted laws for early communities were made by local elected officers in the form of local ordinances in a Township, Village or County
which made the County Sheriff the person to enforce them. The Sheriff had to decide who, when and where horse races would be held
annually. Gambling on horses races were not really allowed when races were held. It did happen and it was an illegal activity under Ohio
State Law. It was illegal under the State of Ohio Constitution to allow gambling. In the 1890s–1920s time period, horse tracks were common.
Local communities were urged to regulate race track meets. New State Legislation regulation permitting home-rule control urged in 1930s.
It is thought under the Powers of Municipal Corporations O.G..C. § 3939, in 1931 the Village of Brooklyn, Ohio had the authority to levy a
ticket admissions tax for tickets sold for horse racing at the Brooklyn Race Track. The Village Council and Mayor had agreed to chose Mr.
Pohlman operate the Brooklyn Race Track, if the Sheriff allowed it to be opened. The old & new Ohio Code Sections below were in effect.
114 Laws of Ohio 1931§ 3939 (1), p. 125-126. Note: the Ohio General Code was revised in 1953. Powers of Municipalities: what included.
3 Ohio Jur.3d, Amusements and Exhibitions, § 17 599 n.2 (2008). Also see 115 Laws of Ohio 1933, § 5544-2, p. 657. State Admission Tax.
Id. § 20 601. Any municipal corporation may charge fees as reasonable (e.g. Horse Racing).
Id. § 21 602.
“Brooklyn Council approves race meet in Defiance of Sheriff’s Order”. The Plain Dealer. March 24, 1931. Page 1 Column 4.
“Racing Here On April 25”. The Cleveland News. March 24, 1931. Chart of scheduled 1931 Race Season April 25 to November 28, 1931.
Brooklyn Racetrack on list, 18-day races planned. April 25 to May 16, 1931 for this racing district. Contributions. Page 22.
“Brooklyn Village Awaits Word to Open Track”. The Brooklyn News-Times. April 3, 1931. Idea was to employ unemployed workers. P. 1.
“Calls Meeting of Track Representatives to Arrange Meets”. Cleveland Plain Dealer. April 16, 1931. Page 2 Column 7.
There was no racing held at Brooklyn Track. No mention in The Cleveland News for April 25 and April 26, 1931 when checked at CPL.
Note: Brooklyn Village Mayor Harry B.Suroski and other Village officials planned to collect a fifteen cent tax on each race track admission
ticket sold if the Brooklyn Race Track had been allowed to reopen and operate again in 1931. It was not clear to this author when this ticket
tax was enacted and repealed in Cuyahoga County. With no racing allowed at the Brooklyn Race Track, this revenue plan was never reality.
THE STATEOF OHIO LEGISLATIVE ACTS PASSED (EXCEPTING APPROPRIATION ACTS) AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
ADOPTED BY THE NINETIETH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF OHIO At Its Regular Session BEGUN AND HELD IN THE CITY OF
COLUMBUS, OHIO. JANUARY 2, 1933 to July 10, 1933. Volume CXV. Columbus, Ohio: THE F. J. HEER PRINTING CO. 1933. Bound
at State Bindery. Index Page, The HORSE RACING ACT, pages 735-736. Amended Substitute Senate Bill No. 103. Section 1079-1 to
1079-14. File No. 58. Pages 171-178. Passed March 28, 1933. Approved by George White, Governor April 6, 1933.
Filed in the office of the Secretary of State at Columbus, Ohio on the 10th day of April, A. D. 1933. File No. 59.
Amended Substitute Senate Bill No. 372. Section 1079-1 to Section 1079-16 including Repeal of Amended Substitute Senate Bill No. 103.
Pages 367- 375. Passed June 22, 1933. Approved by George White, Governor June 28, 1933. Filed in the office of the Secretary of State at
Columbus, Ohio on the 29th day of June, A. D. 1933. File No. 132. See Section 1079-7 for Permit Restrictions when and when to race horses
in Ohio.
Note: Ohio Revised Code - Horse Racing Law in 2011 can now be found in Chapter 3769.01 through 3769.28. Race tracks may have been
indexed in older Ohio case law books under the category ‘Theater and Shows’ due to its nature of outdoor public amusements. According to
Page 14 3/1/2012

Page's Ohio Revised Code Annotated 2010 General Index, page 355 indicates seperate code section details concering horse racing in Ohio.
Page's Ohio Revised Ohio Annotated 2006 Title 37 Volume Two, Chapters 3734 to End, starting on page 499 list thse separate code sections
in some deatail for the reader. Moreover, West's Ohio Digest 1803 to Date, Words and Phases L-Z indicate the topic of “Theater and Shows'
now has a new abbreviation - “Theater” as Digest Topic No. 376. Page's Ohio Revised Code Annotated 2010 General Index, also list
“Theaters” on page 741.

The Ohio State Constitution was amended to allow gambling casinos in 2009. Four casinos were approved by the voters of Ohio to be
built.Owners of racetracks and others were involved in running these four casinos. What role rack tracks will play in casino development is
not clear in 2011to record here. The four casinos planned in Ohio were not to open unit late Summer of 1913.

Other known horse racing Driving Parks in Cleveland Area:
Valley Driving Park near Clark Avenue Bridge in Cleveland in Valley area near Jennings Road on 1904 U.S.G.S. Topographical Map
Sheet (surveyed 1901-1902) used for the 1905 Cleveland, Ohio Soil Survey and Rand McNally1910 maps. No remains of it in 2010.
Cleveland Driving Park, St. Clair Street Glenville.
Newburg Driving Park Harvard Avenue, Corner of Marceline Avenue. Cleveland City Directories 1902-1904 Page 1486.Also 1911.
Valley Driving Park, Foot of Castle Avenue. Cleveland City Directories 1902-1904 Page 1486.
The three above Driving Parks were listed in the 1912 Cleveland Business Directory on page 1486 under “Amusement – Places of”.
Ralph A Pfingsten. “From Rockport to West Park”. 2004. Rockport Hamlet Driving Park. Pages 121-122, 183, 273, and 277.
Rockport Hamlet Driving Park on Lorain Road and Rocky River Drive. (1890-1924). Page 121.
“Cleveland’s Oldest Race Track is Sold”. The Cleveland Plain Dealer. August 23, 1923. Page 15. Harvey Ernest selling track land.
Water Street Driving Park. 1827. Cleveland Village. Page 121.
Willoughby Driving Park. Date unknown. Jim Vernon, Computer Programmer Analyst at The Blonder Company mentioned the Lake Co.
oval.
“The Cleveland Pocket, Business and Street Guide”. 1920. Printed by The Cleveland Directory Company. ‘Outdoor Amusements’.
“The Cleveland Pocket, Business and Street Guide”. 1926. Printed by The Cleveland Directory Company. ‘Outdoor Amusements’.
Brooklyn Racetrack or Brooklyn Driving Park not listed in 1920 or 1926. Cranwood, Randall, and Thistledown listed as open in 1926.

Known Ohio Legal Cases Related to Shipment of Racehorses and Injuries to Horses:
B.& O. Ry. Co. v. Hubbard, 72, Ohio St. 302-309 (1905). Cuyahoga County Case Number 8093, decided April 11, 1905. Racehorse shipped
by rail in a box car from Warren, Ohio to Lodi, Ohio. Horse was injured in train car wreckage on sliding in yard when two trains hit each
other. Horse was removed by owner and horse later died. An example of shipping racehorses for area races in the short-ship racing circuit.

Brooklyn and Mather Airport Sources:
William F. Reep. “Brooklyn City Scene”. December 11, 1960. He mentions the early racetrack and the history of the two airports.
“Cleveland Aerial Photographic Index”. Cleveland Aerial Survey Company. Aerial photos in Ohio taken from 1925 to 1970s available for
viewing at WRHS Library Archives and Genealogical Center, Cleveland, Ohio. P.G. 75 Container 23.Number 14092. Taken March 1962.
Lynette Filips, “More about the Ridge and Brookpark Area”. The Old Brooklyn News. May 2000.
Lynette Filips, More “Shunpike” memories. The Old Brooklyn News. June 2000. Pages 7 and 10.
Lynette Filips. “Brooklyn Airport an important part of neighborhood history”. The Old Brooklyn News. July 2000. Pages 8 and 9.
Lynette Filips. “Pilots have fond memories of Brooklyn Airport”. The Old Brooklyn News. August 2000. Pages 6, 7 and 8.
Wilbur Wihelm. “Learning to fly at Brooklyn Airport”. The Old Brooklyn News. September 2000. Page 7.
Lynette Filips. “More Brooklyn Airport memories”. The Old Brooklyn News. September 2000. Pages 8 and 9.
Lynette Filips. “More people and their memories of Brooklyn Airport”. The Old Brooklyn News. October 2000. Pages 8 and 9.
Lynette Filips, “Brooklyn Airport - as remembered by Jane Walzak Gurdy, daughter of founder”. The Old Brooklyn News. November 2000.
Lynette Filips, “Brooklyn Airport - A crash is remembered”. The Old Brooklyn News. January 2001 Page 6 and 13.
Lynette Filips, “ Brooklyn and Mather Airports”. The Old Brooklyn News. Feburary 2001. Pages 6 and 7. Land for the Mather Airport was
leased from Mr. Hopkins. This is why the writer thought the land for the racetrack was leased too. However, what land the
Cleveland Stone Company had quarries on, it is thought from viewing land records, they owned those parcels.
Lynette Filips, “Arlo Mather – From funeral director to airport owner”. The Old Brooklyn News. March 2001. Page 8 and 9.
Lynette Filips, “Returning to the History of Mather Airport”. The Old Brooklyn News. June 2001. Page 6.
Interesting and Recommended Cleveland Area Airplane Historical Books and Airport Books For The Reader to Consider
Thomas G. Matowitz Jr. “Cleveland’s National Air Races”. Images of America. Published by Arcadia Publishing. 2005.
Thomas G. Matowitz Jr. “Cleveland’s Legacy OF Flight”. Images of America. Published by Arcadia Publishing. 2008. Portion of 1949
Cleveland Air Race Map indicates landing and takes off zones for Brooklyn and Parma Airports on page 119. Arlo Mather photo on p. 114.
Brooklyn Airport Assn. V. Brooklyn , 72 Ohio St.3rd 1442, 648 N.E.2d 514 (Discretionary Appeals Not Allowed. Cuyahoga County No.
Page 15 3/1/2012

66590 F.E. Sweeney., J. Dissents) (1995). This was located in CCC-Western's College Paralegal Library in Shepard's Ohio (Legal)
Ciciations (Case (Law) Name Edition, 2006 Volume 10, A-M Ohio Case Name Tables.

Parma Airport
Martin J. Stricker. Obituary. The Plain Dealer. August 21, 2006. Parma Airport was located at 5640 Stumpf Road near Snow Road in Parma,
Ohio. Mr. Stricker and Nick Parish were one of several owners of the Parma Airport (1946-1951). Parma Airport existed in reality on an old
farm with a 900-foot long runway, but not on area street maps! Arlo Mather was also one of the last owners and operators of the Parma
Airport in 1951. Parma Airport was also known as “Port Parma Airport”. The dream of Parma Airport was to become an “Air Park” where
owners and pilots could live in houses near the airfield and park their planes in their garages! This idea began at the Brooklyn Airport and
was attempted to be reality in nearby Parma. However, the City of Parma developed plans after WWII for the General Motors Corporation
Chevrolet Auto Parts Plants near Brookpark Rd. The concept of an industrial park there was never really reality with a hotel and airport as
planned after WWII by Mr. Stricker and Mr. Mather. Local Residents and The City of Parma did not approve of the rezoning request for the
former farmland for the airpark and airport. While the Cleveland Air Races were in operation until 1949 the Brooklyn, Mather, and Parma
Airports had many planes landing and taking off there. The Port Parma Airport was one of the many early forgotten area landmarks in Parma
by 2009. The Parma Airport had a connection to the Mather Airport. Mr. Stricker had taught Mr. Mather how to fly a plane!
The 2009 location for the former Parma Airport is the ABF Truck Freight Terminal at 5630 Chevrolet Blvd/ City of Parma Service Garage.

Parma Airport Sources
“1946 White Pages Telephone Directory for Cleveland, O.”. Port Parma Airport listing on page 11. Brooklyn Airport Ad on bottom of page.
Parma Airport Advertisement. The Parma Post. December 4, 1947. Page 4.”Can You Drive? Then You Can Learn To Fly!”. Call SH. 3970.
“Plan First U.S. Residential Air Park in Parma”. The Parma Post. January 8, 1948. Pages 1 and 4.
“Airpark Site Report Report Given City Council”. The Parma Post. February 5, 1948. Page 5.
“Parma Airpark Plan Gets Airing Before Huge Crowd at Hearing”. The Parma Post. No. 17. March 25, 1948. Pages 1, 6 and 7.
“MATHER AIRPARK REPORTS: Fact vs. Rumor”. “What Does This Project Offer Parma?”. The Parma Post. April 1, 1948. AD. Page 7.
“No Decision On Airpark By Council”. The Parma Post. No. 19. April 8, 1948. Page 1.
“Planning Issue Heats Up City Council Table”. The Parma Post. August 19, 1948. Page 1 and 4
“Parma Council Votes to Sue To Enjoin Mather Airpark”. The Parma Post. No. 41. September 10, 1948. Page 1.
“Master Plan for Parma is Approved”. December 9, 1948. The Parma Post. No. 2.. P.1. Parma had no prior master city development plan.
“Plan Huge Apartment Project”. The Parma Post. November 11, 1948. Page 1.
“Plan Many Homes in G-M Site Area”. The Parma Post. March 2, 1950. Explanation of the failure of Mather Airpark, Inc. Page 1.
“Huge Chevrolet Plant of G-M to Open Late This Fall: Will Employ 4,000”. The Parma Post. No. 23. May 6, 1948. Page 1.
“1951 White Pages Telephone Directory for Cleveland, Ohio”. Parma Airport listed on page 702. Last known listing for Parma Airport.
“1951 Cleveland Yellow Pages Telephone Directory for Cleveland, O.”. Parma Airport listed on page 35. Instruction by Arlo Mather.
“1967 Cleveland West Suburban Directory”. The Cleveland Directory Co. Transamerican Freight Lines 5630 Stumpf Rd. page 407. (ABF).

Walker Airport
This small airport seemed to be part of the former Parma Air Park plan near Queens Highway, Brainard and Hauserman Roads in Parma, O.
Very little documentation seems to exist for it. St. Bridgets Catholic Church and parking lot was built on the site in 1952-1953 time period in
Parma. Robert Runyan photographed it from the air on September 3, 1951 and this writer purchased a copy of photo at a local train show in
1990s from Bruce Young. Photo listed as W511 and 1791 in his numbering system on label on back of photo.

Cuyahoga County Farm Bureau
“4-H members win 1st place in 7 championship titles”. The Royalton Recorder. October 8, 2009. Page 3. 4-H Market Auction, Berea, Ohio.

Miscellaneous Comments and Footnotes
During the writing of this paper this writer had noticed that the number of Cuyahoga County employees was declining as the County
Government Officials struggled with their financial budgets in uncertain economic times. He rode buses and trains of the Greater Cleveland
Regional Transit Authority to seek and discover information for this paper. Many RTA buses had fewer riders than in the past that he had
seen. Many local historical books viewed by this writer did not mention the Brooklyn Driving Park or Racetrack. Hopefully, this paper will
provide some insight into a forgotten segment of our local history. The knowledge the older workers gained over many years working with
the older records were not passed along to younger replacements. This writer was very fortunate to have met many experienced county
workers and was then able to pass along some of their knowledge and experiences to their younger replacements, who did help others.
Laura Johnston. “Number of county employees nearing lowest level in decades”. The Plain Dealer. October 11, 2009. Pages B1 and B5.
“Fewer taking the bus”. The Plain Dealer. October 11, 2009. Page B1. RTA ridership was much higher in the 1990s when this writer had
volunteered his time to help run RTA’s Adopt-A-Shelter program. Many older bus-waiting shelters were replaced with modern shelters by
Page 16 3/1/2012

Brooklyn Race Track Update 2012

Brooklyn Race Track Update 2012

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