Up today is a look at what used to be located on the site of today’s Devonshire Mall. The photo above shows the grandstand at the Devonshire Racetrack as seen from Howard Avenue.
This was the paddock at the Devonshire Racetrack.
This photo shows opening day of the 1924 race season.
I’m often asked about the track, but I don’t have much information. From what I understand there is someone at work on a project that will cover the history of the track and others in Windsor. There was a time where horse racing was banned in Michigan and Windsor was home to three tracks that attracted Americans in droves.
There was the Windsor Jockey Club, which was purchased by the City in 1929. From that track, Jackson park was born, and part of the land went towards Kennedy Collegiate.
There was Kenilworth Race Track whch hosted the “Race of the Century” in 1920
And there was Devonshire, which we took a brief look at in July 2007.
This is a view of the clubhouse as seen from the track in 1929.
The photo above ran in the Border Cities Star July 22, 1929:
After Michigan repealed the ban and allowed racing once again in Michigan (I believe it was in the early 1930’s) our tracks quickly became redundant, and they died a fairly quick death.
After the horses were done however, Greyhounds took over at Devonshire…
The clipping above as well as the rest of the pictures from here on out came to me from a reader named Christine. She got them from one of her neighbours named Rose Perrault. She’s the woman pictured above on the right.
I’m not sure what time frame greyhounds were race at Devonshire, but I think there was racing at the same time as the Riding Club was around. Above is an old business card for the riding club. Seeing as the instructions say to take the Howard Avenue Bus, not the streetcar, it’s safe to assume this is after 1939.
Included in photos passed along are this series of photos. Mrs. Perrault is shown on the far right in this photo as well.
Here was the Riding Club clubhouse. It looks different to the clubhouse shown above while the track was active. From what Christine told me, Mrs. Perrault said that there was a fire and the clubhouse burnt down, and they never rebuilt it.
This photo also shows part of the clubhouse. Mrs. Perrault is in the middle of the photo.
In this photo above you can see part of the track, and the country like setting of the surrounding area in early 1940’s.
Anyone out there have anything to add about the dog racing days or the riding club days?
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Nice post on the racetrack and great pics. It's amazing to think of what used to be there before the mall. With all of the development there now, I can hardly picture it but I would gladly take the 'country like' setting. My grandparents lived just on the other side of that (and what is now E.C row)starting at around the same time as these pics. I'll have to ask my gram if she remembers anything about this track.
thanks so much for this article, I skated as a child on the pond infront of the old riding clubhouse, I remember the willow trees still there, and the race track was still there with corn growing in the middle of the tracks, there was a homeless person living under the old stadium, he chased us. Good memories, I rode horses from the Kennelworth stables across the way from Devonshire, we were allowed to ride anywhere we wanted to, all the area was mostly undeveloped. There were still some of the old stone bridges still standing.
Thanks so much for the pictures.
I have some of the same memories as RED above. As kids in the 1960's We used to trek to the ruins of Devonshire on a fairly regular basis. To get there from Remington Park we would cross the Grand Marais Ditch via the property of Union Gas and then cross E.C. Row when it was a simple two lane street. Once there we would build rafts with all of the construction debris left behind and navigate our way through the large ponds. There was always high adventure roaming through the cement carcass of the stands as well. The track was still evident and, as Red pointed out, many of the bridges and gateways were still in tact. Big summer adventure. Lots to do. At the end of a day we would come home with jars full of frogs and tadpoles. As time went on, the site was spoiled by a lot of illegal dumping. The remains of a murdered woman were discovered there one year and to this day I think that case remains unsolved. That pretty much spelled the end of that era as the site was soon razed and shortly after that came the Devonshire Mall as we know it today. Maybe there is a cold case in this story.
The next thing to look for will be pics of the nine hole golf course that was part of the Western Jockey Club holdings at the Devonshire site. I suspect that became some of the Riding club Property at the later date.
I remember going on horse rides there in the early 80s but I'm not sure if it was the devonshire riding club. There's a subdivision there now.
The Devonshire Riding Club was close to where the Keg is now. I was to young to play there but my big brother spent a lot of time there. My recollection i
s that it burned down (probably started by some kids) Darren is thinking of the Kenilworth Race track across the RR tracks site of the famous race of the Century between Sir Barton and Man o'war.
Andrew ....what a wonderful job you did on this post ......To those readers who submitted some of their replies... i thank you! These photos were passed on to me by Rose who is in those photos and the stories she told me always intrigued me ... I'm glad to have shared these photos with with all you readers and history buffs ..... as well as happy to hear that others have some memories of this once beautiful place ... Tis a shame another piece of our history is gone..... but not forgotten ..... Once again .....Thanks so much Andrew ...We really appreciate your dedication to our City's History...........
Christine
Your pictures bring back lots of old childhood memories. As children living along Howard Ave. we would often go to the ruins in the 50's and play in the pond next to the clubhouse. Lots of tadpoles to catch in the summer. For a while, the clubhouse was occupied by a family. It was sad when it burned to the ground. Steam engines and their whistles along the MCRR were common at that time. Old switch tower #4 (http://www.canadasouthern.com/caso/images/windsor-tower4.jpg) across the RR tracks from Devonshire was also a place where we kids would frequent. The footings of the old switch Tower are still visible. Many times in the winter we kids would stop by and the Tower workers would let us warm our hands on the old coal stove in the lower level of the Tower. Great memories..............
awesome stuff Andrew!
Thanks!
Very nice post. Hard to believe there were 2 race tracks so close to each other. Horse racing has been trending downward for many years, so it is unlikely that the tracks would have survived to the present. The Devonshire architecture looks very nice, lots of detail, and almost has a Spanish element to it. Likely all well-built structures. Good job Andrew!