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News / Life / Clark County Life

Clark County History: Vancouver’s Early Racetrack

By Martin Middlewood for The Columbian
Published: March 6, 2022, 6:05am

It’s rare when Portland hankers for anything in Vancouver. Yet in the summer of 1892, it coveted the city’s racetrack because it didn’t have one of its own. The Oregonian dubbed it as “one of the finest in the Northwest.” The track lay east of Main Street between 33rd and 39th streets and was nearly a mile long.

In February, O.M. Hidden and Charles Brown signed for the Columbia Land Company’s purchase of 60 acres at $50,000. The company put $30,000 down and financed the rest at little over 3 percent. The company’s articles of incorporation set shares at $25 each, covering the investment. Some investors had horses that later would race on the track.

The investors chose the spot for its easy access from Vancouver’s Main Street ferry to attract Portlanders across the Columbia River to gamble. They knew the electric streetcar extension from there would reach the track.

In March, locals got in on the excitement by incorporating the Vancouver Driving Park Association, which was linked to the Portland Speed Association. O.M. Hidden, an architect, was among them and designed the $18,000 judging tower. The surveyor finished platting the milelong track location in April. In May, city council members postponed any decision but said they favored the project. 

Constructed in June, the track was made with 6 inches of loam covered with gravel, sprinkled daily and rolled with a steel roller to harden it. The home stretch was 80 feet wide and the backstretch 50. Early August, workers had made rapid progress on the grandstand and most of the 100 stables were done. In mid-August, they finished the judging stand. All would be ready for the first races, Aug. 31, Sept. 1 and 2, 1892.

At 3:51 p.m. on Aug. 27, according to The Oregonian, the first electric streetcar left from Vancouver’s ferry dock carrying 40 passengers, including Vancouver Mayor W. Bryan Daniels, the city council and several prominent businessmen. When the group arrived at the racetrack, they sauntered around, admiring the place.

Opening day was bright, and 700 people attended. The horses pulled sulkies, lightweight, two-wheeled, chariotlike carts holding a driver. Ladies sat in the grandstand comfortably, the 14th Infantry Band played music between heats, and men paced about, placing bets and urging the racers on from the track rails.

A couple of horses performed outstandingly in the following days’ races. On Sept. 1, Althea, an Altamont filly, broke a record for the milelong race with a time of 2 minutes, 35 seconds. Sept. 2, Bier’s Vinmont won three heats with better and nearly consistent times — 2:29, 2:32 and 2:32. An Oregonian sportswriter praised the races saying even “the crankiest owners are loud in their praise of the course.”

The track died a fitful death. It opened and closed a few times and passed through several owners until the Hidden brothers bought it in 1910. Its buildings were destroyed in April 1911 and platted for the North Coast Heights subdivision.


Martin Middlewood is editor of the Clark County Historical Society Annual. Reach him at ClarkCoHist@gmail.com.

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