At the turn of the century Memphis was home to a race track named Montgomery Park.  It was located on the outskirts of town, and had a small grandstand.  The races here regularly attracted spectators from all walks of life and from all the surrounding states.  You would find the upper-crust from "Victorian Village” standing shoulder to shoulder with the country folks from Arkansas.  The man behind this lively track was Memphian Henry A. Montgomery.  He had formed the Memphis Jockey Club and by the 1850s the club purchased a tract of land that would become the Fairgrounds, and built their track.  During the late 1800’s there was good attendance at the races and lively betting with regular articles featured in the New York Times reporting the goings-on.  The "Tennessee Derby" was run there in 1884-1886 and again from 1890-1906.  And it actually rivaled the Kentucky Derby for gambling and excitement.  This is the story of Henry A. Montgomery and his race track.

Click on Small photos to enlarge them

Henry Arthur Montgomery was born in Fermanagh County, Ireland in 1829.  At fifteen he began an apprenticeship with Thomas Karnahan & Sons, a timber, state and iron dealership.  He immigrated to Canada in the Spring of 1848 and moved later that year to Brown County, Ohio.  By the time he applied for U.S. citizenship in 1851, he had married Maria Jane Dugan, a native of Ohio.  The young family moved to Tennessee shortly after the birth of their daughter Julia, the first of Henry and Maria's six children.

Julia

Annie

Lulu

Jennie

Elizabeth"Bessie"

Stonewall

The Montgomery's lived a short time in Somerville, TN, before settling in Memphis, where Henry began working in the telegraph business.  His early efforts involved direct control of all phases of the introduction of telegraphic communications into the Memphis area, but by the late 1850s, he was dealing primarily with the construction of telegraph lines.  He built the first telegraph line from Memphis to Little Rock, and during the Civil War he extended it to Clarksville.  In addition, he built a line from Madison to Helena, Arkansas. 

Through Montgomery's efforts, Memphis became a junction for Morse communication.  Unfortunately, the pressure of the larger companies and the Federal occupation of Memphis during the Civil War forced Montgomery out of the telegraph business.   He sold his interests to the Southwestern Telegraph Company, which later merged with other regional companies to form Western Union.

Henry A. Montgomery formed The Memphis Jockey Club in 1836 and the meetings were originally held at a location on Mississippi Boulevard.  By the early 1850's the Jockey Club had purchased land and established a race track,  and named its principal race of the year the Tennessee Derby.   Montgomery served as president of the Memphis Jockey Club and was also the principal promoter and financial investor in the race track.    It was inevitable that the race track would be named "Montgomery Park".

The Club House

Vintage Pomade

Vintage Hair Dressing

Vintage Powder

1901 Pin

Pin

In 1851 land was purchased out of the 5000 acre Deaderick Plantation and developed as a horse-racing track by the Memphis Jockey Club. The track was reorganized in 1882 and named Montgomery Park . During the late 1800’s there was good attendance and lively betting at the Memphis track, with regular articles in the New York Times reporting the goings-on. The Tennessee Derby was run there in 1884-1886 and again from 1890-1906, and rivaled the Kentucky Derby for gambling and excitement.  The track consisted of a one mile dirt oval 65 feet wide at all points.

Vintage Crowd

1892 Montgomery Park

1916 Montgomery Park

Vintage Race

1896 Article

1889 Article

1889 Article

1901 Article

1901 Article

1902 Article

But the Tennessee legislature outlawed gambling in 1906 and the track ran its last race and closed Montgomery Park.  Following the closure, the track land and facilities were first leased and then purchased by the city of Memphis and eventually incorporated into the Tri-State Fairgrounds and later into the Mid-South Fairgrounds. 

1905 Race

1905 Race

Thoroughbred Racing in Tennessee ...

Although Kentucky is world famous for Thoroughbred racing today, at one time Tennessee was considered to be the home of the best racehorses in America. In the late 1700’s a number of Thoroughbred stallions were advertised in the newspapers in what is now east Tennessee. During the 1800’s Tennessee was acknowledged as the center of horse racing and breeding.

 In 1800, a stallion named Grey Medley was at the farm of Rachel Jackson’s brother, William Donelson.  Andrew Jackson, himself, was a leading breeder and racer in top races of the country. In 1804 he and Rachel attended the first official horse race in Gallatin as owners.  In 1805 he purchased an interest in Clover Bottom, an important racetrack of the time. He bred and owned some of the best horses of the day.  Jackson’s dealings at the racetrack are said to have partially led to his 1806 duel with Charles Dickinson.   By 1816 Jackson had sold most of his horses as he was heavily involved in politics. He went on to become President in 1929, but still kept a hand in racing, taking some horses to race in Washington D.C.

Andrew & Rachel Jackson

By  1839 Tennessee had at least  10 race tracks and 20 Jockey Clubs throughout the state, mostly in the middle and western sections.  In 1843 Nashville, a race named the Peyton Stakes was run. The purse was $35,000 and was the richest race run in the world up to that time, awarding a prize richer than England’s Epsom Derby. William G. Harding developed Belle Meade into a famous stud farm.  Bonnie Scotland, Enquirer, and Iroquois were some of the well-known sires at Belle Meade. Other top stud farms producing champions in middle Tennessee were Kennesaw and Fairview.

Belle Meade

The Tennessee Legislature passed an anti-betting law in 1906. The ban on pari-mutuel  betting effectively shut down the racehorse industry in Tennessee.  In 1912, the city of Memphis bought  Montgomery  Park from the Jockey Club and eventually the property was turned into what became the Memphis Fairgrounds. While there are still a few thoroughbred farms in the state, the incentive to breed  racing thoroughbreds was largely gone from the state, and Kentucky began to grow and thrive as the leader in the racehorse industry.

No Betting !

Although the track was forced to close down thoroughbred racing in 1906 when betting in the state was made illegal, harness racing continued and became a popular feature of state fairs.  It didn't rely on wagering and survived well into the twentieth century.   And the Memphis Jockey Club Clubhouse was not demolished until 1950.  The city of Memphis purchased Montgomery Park in 1912 and this began the use of the track for Harness Racing, Rodeos, Circuses, Drag Racing, Air Shows and Wild West shows, especially during the Tri State Fair, and later the Mid-South Fair.  The track actually had a long run, but the grandstand burned in 1945 and today there's no trace of the track.

George Adams Rodeo

1936 Art McCrady Rodeo

1938 Swifts Jewel Cowboys

1938 Swifts Jewel Cowboys

Buffalo Bill Wild West Show

In 1911, a "Restricted Subdivision for Colored People" opened south of Montgomery Park.  The "restriction" in this case means no shops or stores can be built in the subdivision.  The area is in the northwest corner of what became known as the Orange Mound neighborhood - which was part of the purchase of the old Deaderick Plantation.  There's currently no other information available on this and it's not known if there's a direct connection to the Montgomery Park Race Track or the Memphis Jockey Club.

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