User:James W Pellow/sandbox

Introduction

Kenilworth Park, also known as the Kenilworth Racing Grounds, was a one mile horse and later automobile racing track located in the very southeast of the later incorporated Town Of Tonawanda. The track opened in 1902, but after only several years of operation, closed in 1908 due to changes in New York State gambling laws.

Creation

Financing

Location

Buffalo at the turn of the century was a rapidly growing city of increasing wealth and a population which boasted more millionaires per capita than any other city in the United States. As the metropolitan area expanded northwards, growth tended to follow three rather well defined corridors. The western corridor along the Niagara River and Erie Canal became home to much of the region's industry, infrastructure, and various working class neighborhoods often defined by ethnicity. The corridor to the immediate east of the city was also a mix of industry and oft ethnic working class neighborhoods, but generally more residential in nature than the corridor along the Niagara River. In contrast, the corridor which developed northwards through the heart of the city was primarily residential and affluent. The chosen location of the track, within the projected expansion of this middle corridor, was most likely primarily due to the desire to cater to this population, as well as the belief that this impending affluent development would envelop the track and add to its prestige. The recently incorporated Village of Kenmore (insert something about the utopian ideal of the time) to the East, and its more nascent affluent population, very likely strengthened this belief.

The area directly to the north of Buffalo, which would later become the large suburban and industrial Town of Tonawanda, was still very rural at the turn of the twentieth century. Haphazard small communities such as Elwood and Brighton were starting to grow in response to their respective surrounding areas being developed for agricultural purposes. The market for agricultural goods was robust in the Western New York region as its population swelled. The area offered fairly decent arable land at reasonable prices. The tract of land on which the race grounds were to be developed, however, remained for all intent purposes undeveloped despite being adjacent to the region's largest market, the City of Buffalo.

There were two reasons for this lack of development. The most obvious one was that the area was swampy in nature. (insert information about the geology of the region). The other is more hypothetical in nature. The wooded and swampy region was known for occasional groups of Roma (Gypsies) camping in it for periods of time as they made their migration northwards to Canada. Locals possessed an apprehension for the Roma, and most likely felt that avoiding the area was the best course of action as better land at reasonable prices was available to the west and north of it anyways.

Hence, it is possible that the tract of land chosen for the development of Kenilworth Park was in part due to its availability and likely low price. However, considering the wealth of the investors, and their desire to create a racing venue that would rival the greatest in the country, the most plausible main reason for the purchase reverts back to the discussion of the economic geography of the region.

Demise Of The Track