TAKE ME BACK
OUT OF THE RUNNING BY JUDY LANGDON
T
ulsa County’s fi rst racetrack hosted horse and dog races in the 1910s at the original Tulsa fairgrounds, located on 15 acres near North Lewis Avenue and East Archer Street. In 1913, the Oklahoma Legislature outlawed bookmaking and betting pools, though interpretations varied as to whether racing was specifically prohibited. Horse racing declined briefly across the state but recovered — in part because of a newspaper campaign touting the
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TulsaPeople MAY 2017
economic benefits of thoroughbred horse breeding and racing. A few years later, controversy found the Tulsa track. On April 19, 1917, the racetrack was under martial law, and Gov. Robert L. Williams sent the National Guard to Tulsa to stop illegal gambling. It’s unclear when the racetrack closed; the fairgrounds moved to its current location in 1923. The site of the former north Tulsa racetrack is now an empty lot and residential area across from the Las Americas grocery store. TP
COURTESY BERYL FORD COLLECTION/ROTARY CLUB OF TULSA, TULSA CITY-COUNTY LIBRARY AND TULSA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Racing events at the original Tulsa racetrack included “harness” events like the one pictured in this undated photo.