NUTWOOD PARK

Photo courtesy: Jim Massey

Loemker, Herman J., 1868-1937, “[Nutwood Park at the fairgrounds north of Dubuque, Iowa],” Loras College Digital Collections, accessed September 14, 2016, https://digitalcollections.loras.edu/items/show/308.

Watching the races at Nutwood Park was a popular sport.

NUTWOOD PARK. The home of HORSE RACING in Dubuque, Nutwood Park was named for NUTWOOD, the famous Kentucky trotting stallion owned by Henry L. STOUT. Frank D. STOUT and Henry L. Stout leased the DUBUQUE DRIVING PARK along with additional acres to make the park larger. To improve the park, they made the track one-mile long and constructed a new grandstand, stables, and a fence around the track. (1)

The contractor was John Patrick WILLIAMS. The decision to construct the course was made easier by the support the project received from other wealthy businessmen who loved racing. Racers wanted the change because it meant fewer curves and an opportunity to establish speed records. (2) The combination race track and fairgrounds was opened to the public in August 1894. Stalls for race horses were rented annually for $1,160.

In 1894 the Nutwood Park Company was established and the track became nationally recognized as part of the Great Western Racing Circuit. In 1894 more than one hundred horses were raced with the number climbing to 348 in the 1898 races.

Harness racing was the only sport at the track until August 1896. An injunction closing one of Chicago's largest tracks resulted in two hundred thoroughbreds being present at the Dubuque track. Races, scheduled to last one week, turned out to be a financial loss to the backers, however, and were, therefore, the last to be held in Dubuque.

Nutwood Park advertising poster. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding

Thoughts that the track would continue its success led to the formation of the Dubuque Trotting and Pacing Association in 1899. Plans were begun for a fair to run the week of August 28 to September 2 with the largest racing card in the nation. To draw the best horses and riders, Charles Thomas HANCOCK proposed purses totaling $123,000 and a relaxation of the rules on gambling. At a cost of $35,000, the track was widened and a new grandstand constructed. Admission tickets costing one dollar were sold at local hotels, banks, and drug stores. (3)

Huge crowds filled Nutwood Park on opening day, "Dubuque Day." Excursion trains brought business from across the nation. One local saloon keeper took the door off his establishment and set it adrift in the MISSISSIPPI RIVER, signaling his intent to remain open all hours. (4) Others signaled there intent to remain open by throwing the keys to their establishments in the river. (5) Roulette wheels appeared. All local hotels were filled; people slept in the parks. Some of the finest horses in the nation raced to the delight of the packed stadium. To increase attendance, two 20-round boxing matches offering a top prize of $3,500 were held for three consecutive nights. (6)

On the second day twelve horses competed for the $20,000 Futurity. The winner was Idolita, a horse owned by Frank H. Jones of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. (7) Jones won $9,000 for first prize. The remaining prize money was divided among the other finishers and the estate of Leland Stanford of Palo Alto, California, who bred the winning horse. Boxing contests held at the same time featured Joe Choynski, Clarence Forbes, Tommy Ryan, Jack Moffatt. (8)

Overflow crowds, however, dwindled rapidly and the last races on Saturday were held before an empty grandstand. Soon after the 1899 race, the park was offered to the city on the condition that the grounds would be maintained as a park indefinitely. The city refused the contract. The DUBUQUE ELECTRIC COMPANY purchased the land and leased it without charge to the fairgrounds association.

The grounds were also the scene of plays, vaudeville, and band concerts sponsored by the electric company. In 1903 the land was purchased by the UNION ELECTRIC COMPANY after it was announced that the company would spend $25,000 for improvements to the park. The company planned to make the location a resort with racing a primary activity. (9)

Until the Tri-State Fair of 1904 little racing was seen at Nutwood Park. The fair rekindled interest, however and the park was improved with an expenditure of $7,800. (10) in 1906 the famous racehorse Dan Patch came to Dubuque to compete for eight thousand dollars in prize money. During the week, Dan Patch set a new track record of 1:58 before an estimated twenty thousand cheering fans. The horse was a featured racer again in 1907.

In 1911 races were scheduled for the week of September 12 to 18th. It began to rain on the 12th, however, and continued for the entire week causing the entire week's races to be cancelled. The financial loss was said to nearly ruin the sponsors. The last big horse race at Nutwood Park occurred in 1915. (11) With this failure, interest in racing died in Dubuque. Convinced that there would be no more races, the electric company dismantled the grandstand and converted the park into a garden for its employees. (12)

The land between the railroad tracks, Sageville Road, and the John Deere road which once drew huge crowds and brightly colored jockeys became the site of Dubuque's first AIRPORT. After the airport was moved, the area was converted to industrial use.

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Source:

1. Kruse, Len. "Busy Nutwood Park, Melody Mill Now Just Memories," Telegraph Herald, March 17, 1998, p. 12

2. Fedler, Fred. "Dubuque's Nutwood Park Once Nation's Horse Racing Capital," Telegraph Herald, undated, Courtesy of: Diane Harris

3 "Remember Nutwood Park Races in the 1890s Here?" Telegraph Herald, Sept. 26, 1937, p. 5

4. Key, Harley. "Dubuque Once Racing Center," Telegraph Herald, September 15, 1946, p. C11

5. Ibid.

6. Fedler

7. Oldt, Franklin T. History of Dubuque County. http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/franklin-t-oldt/history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl/page-22-history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl.shtml, p. 194

8. Key

9. Ibid.

10. Oldt, Franklin T. History of Dubuque County, Iowa. http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/franklin-t-oldt/history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl/page-22-history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl.shtml, p. 200

11. Kruse

11. Fedler