Maxwelton Race
Track on the St. Charles Rock Road at Pennsylvania Avenue
was a St. Louis County,
Missouri site for Horse Races, Barney Oldfield and Howard de Palma
Auto Races, Wellston Kennel Club Greyhound Races,
Gambling and "Dinty" Colbert of Willie Eagan's Rats
Gang, and a great abandoned landmark for young boys to
explore in the 1940s.
Boys
memories from Wellston, Missouri in the 1940s
This story is about a
vanished landmark just 2 miles from the center of our
universe in the 1940s.
The community of
Wellston, and our memories, reached far beyond the
geographical limits of our city. Our town was just a
small part of Metropolitan St. Louis, our adventures
as youngsters growing up were expanded by our
transportation; on foot, bicycles and that marvel of
mass transit, "streetcars" or what some called
trolleys. Just a few of our families in the early
40s had cars, and gasoline was rationed. So
travel by foot, bikes and ten cent street car rides were
the "prime" methods we used to explore the far
reaches of our community. (We were
pre-teen and early teenage) |
At the junction of Pennsylvania and St. Charles Rock
Road on the SW section of land, there was a large
square of open and overgrown land. At
the north end of the property was an abandoned
grandstand of concrete. In the 1940s this was all
that was left of the
Maxwelton Race track.
My friend, Bill Reed and I,
just had to visit the place. ( I know others were
there with us, as we rode bikes in packs of riders
most of the time. Sorry, but the names of the others
have faded from my memory in the last 65 years) |
1907
View is
South East Click Photo to enlarge
|
We had heard the stands were where people used to
stand to
watch horse races and greyhound races. When the
races were shut down, We were also told ( usually in
hushed whispers), that after the races
were shut down, some of the Egan Gang had target practice
there with pistols, shotguns and machine guns.
Legend was they would shoot at tin cans, bottles and even the concrete stands.
With a story like that; Bill, and
myself and others jumped on
our bikes and rode the two miles out the Rock
Road past the large cemeteries, past St Vincent's
Asylum for the insane, which we thought was a pretty scary looking place...Dracula
could have lived there, or probably Frankenstein,
since cemeteries were so close.
(photo of St. Vincent's
Asylum here) |
1953 View is NW Grounds clear of
underbrush
(Bill Voos '48 sent the four B&W
photos shown here) |
Opposite Zion Cemetery at the Rock Road and
Pennsylvania, we pulled into the deep weeds and
overgrown bushes. On a slight rise there it was.
. .the huge abandoned concrete grandstand.
No doubt, we felt we had
made a pretty impressive discovery. We walked around
looking for bullet holes, sadly, I do not remember finding
any. Then we climbed to the top level for the view.
Nothing of interest. No race track or even a clue
of what might have once been there. South was just
grass, weeds and volunteer trees, to the left was
the open country like Pennsylvania Ave. and beyond
that towards Wellston was more open fields and a new
Cemetery called Laurel Hills.. |
1953 View is NW. Arches and angles.
The steps to the rear of the grandstand were
unusual. |
No great discoveries here at this place, and we left
for the ride back. We had walked where gangsters
walked and survived, and left with a feeling of
excitement.
I recently wrote some of my old classmates, and they
had memories of the old abandoned grandstands also.
I asked them to share their stories for this
project. Below is "EDITED" portions of
what they wrote.From Bill
Voos, Class of 1948:
Bob ....... I remember it well. One of my
aunts lived
just a short way east of Pennsylvania and south of
St. Charles Rock Road
and I used to ride my bicycle out there frequently
to play with my
cousins. I rode over to Maxwellton several times to
look
around. I heard the same stories about the Egan
Gang, etc. We drove by
there a lot, too, because I had other relatives who
lived farther out off of the
"Rock Road". |
1953 St.Vincent's is
visible in the distance
in this view to the NE |
From Bill Cary, Class of
1947 : Hi Bob.........Yes Ray and I use to ride our
bikes to the Maxwelton track area and have camp
outs. All was fine until mom found out and banned me
from going. When she was a girl she lived in St.
Johns and when she and her brother would ride their
horses to Wellston on Saturdays they would gallop
the horses when they got to the race track area as
they didn't want the Egan gang to see them.
From Bill Voos, Class of
1948:
Bob ....... These photographs show the
Maxwelton grandstand on a
warmer-than-average January day in 1953
after heavy equipment had been used to clear
trees and brush and to grade the area,
evidently in preparation to tear the
structure down. My then girlfriend, (now
wife), Louise, and I were driving by on
Pennsylvania on the way to visit some of my
relatives when we saw the Maxwelton
superstructure, which had been largely
obscured by foliage and undergrowth in the
past. We drove in on a construction road to
get a closer look at it before it was
destroyed. This was the only clear view I
ever had of the place close-up.
|
1953 January. Louise
(Bill Voos '48 sent the four B&W
photos shown here) |
Below is a little of what I could find on the
Maxwelton Race Track Visit the linked photos or news articles for
details.
Click Photo to enlarge |
The Track
was open before 1907, per Post Card collectors.
The card shown was first published in 1907,
and printed through 1917. This card
shown was post marked 1910. [I have
not found data confirming opening
date, or the owners of the track]
1917 - September 2 NEWS
"St. Louis, Mo., September 1, "Pockicho, well
ridden by Eddie Taplin, won the forth race,
a six-furlong handicap at Maxwelton park
to-day. It was a good day for form players."
The Syracuse Herald Sep 2, 1917
Note additional information: News
article Aug 23, 1936 in the Los Angeles
Times. "Old Eddie Taplin rode in 9000 races,
and on this day he was given a standing
ovation as he won it." He retired
as a jockey that day.
Los Angeles Times Aug 23, 1936
|
Click Photo to enlarge
Click Photo to enlarge
Click Photo to enlarge |
Automobile races.
. .There was a time in America when a traffic
cop would flip on his bubble-gum lights,
pull you over, saunter up
to your window and ask, "Who do you think you are, Barney
Oldfield?''
Golden Submarine and Barney
Oldfield at Maxwelton July, 1917 Excerpt:
" Oldfield drove the car to it's records in
July, 1917, on the Maxwelton tract in St.
Louis. He covered the mile in 45 seconds
flat, which is merely 80 miles an hour and
the 50 miles in 40:17,60, only 73.57 miles
an hour. This may not seem fast to the fans
who have watched the averages climb, but it
is faster by far than any driver has ever
been able to drive on a dirt track." Fort Wayne
Journal-Gazette Story dated Thursday
Morning, May 1, 1919
1917 --
August 11 NEWS Barney Oldfield
lowered two world's automobile records for a
dirt track in three sanctioned events
against Ralph de Palma at the Maxwelton race
trace today. Full story here:
The Washington Post , Aug 12,1917
1917
Record 1918 NEWS article about Barney
Oldfield's record runs in 1917 at Maxwelton.
"Barney Oldfield will drive his famous
"Golden Submarine" with which he broke all
records for five, ten, twentyfive, and fifty
miles on a dirt track at Maxwelton track,
near St Louis, a year ago." read full article
Ada Evening News, Ada, Oklahoma
For more photos of
Barney Oldfield and his Golden Submarine
visit this site. It is a great site for race
fans.
http://www.rumbledrome.com/barneyracer.html
|
Click Photo to enlarge |
Greyhound races... and the end of
Maxwelton Racing
1927 - August 31
NEWS Large advertisement Wellston Kennel
Club "Greyhound Racing" "Open
every night except Sunday"
Edwardsville Intelligencer,
Aug 31, 1927
1927
- October 27, NEWS "Court Order
Sought To Stop Dog Races" The suit was directed against Wellston
Kennel club and three other Missouri greyhound
kennel clubs.
The Washington Post Oct 27, 1927
1932
- May 11,
NEWS "Dog Track
Fight in St. Louis County"
Injunction granted restraining law
enforcement from interference with the
Wellston Kennel Club on St. Charles Road
west of Wellston.
Edwardsville Intelligencer, May 11, 1932
1932 - May 19
NEWS Wellston Kennel Club
opens tonight. Ten racing events on the
program. An injunction was
issued to prevent interference from
authorities.
Edwardsville Intelligencer, May 19, 1932
|
Click Photo to enlarge Guns and Rats
"Over
a two-year period, the death toll in the
Egan’s Rats / Hogan Gang War reached 23. " |
Reports of the last of
the Eagan Gang using the site: crimelibrary.com The link for the site and others is below.
"During the trigger-happy forays that were
occurring, several businesses had their windows shot
out and once a young boy was hit by an automobile
driven by fleeing gunmen. Public anger, caused by
the mob shootings, forced police into action and "Dinty" Colbeck moved the gang’s headquarters outside of the
city to St. Louis County. The gang converted an
eleven-room house into the Maxwelton Club, and took
over an abandoned Horse and Motorcycle
racetrack near St. Charles Rock Road and
Pennsylvania Avenue. Here the Rats raced
around the track taking target
practice on tin cans and whiskey bottles, which
terrorized the locals. "
http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/family_epics/louis/3.html
http://www.americanmafia.com/Cities/St_Louis.html |
|
1958
- The Maxwelton grandstand was razed
in 1958. Today the land is the western addition to Laurel
Hills Cemetery. |
Click Photo to enlarge |
Most of St. Vincent's
large estate is a now a nice St. Louis County Park.
The
beautiful
castle-like buildings and grounds
are a home for the low income elderly. |
This was all about the memories of
several young boys adventures in a small part of St.Louis County, Missouri in the 1940s.
It seems some of the stories we heard about
Maxwelton Race track were true!
We had
our bicycles, exercise, fresh air and fun!
Didn't everyone?
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