  Ookpik Member Username: Ookpik Post Number: 364 Registered: 01-2007 |
Here are some photos of an old horse racing track. I assumed this was the State Fairgrounds but actually have no idea.  Large View  Large View  Large View  If you look closely, the second building from the right is labeled "Poultry" and there appears to be a Ferris Wheel in the background on the left. Large View Ookpik | ||
Danny Member Username: Danny Post Number: 6872 Registered: 02-2004 |
A horse racing course at the Michigan Fairgrounds. | ||
Kenp Member Username: Kenp Post Number: 906 Registered: 03-2006 |
http://fordschool.umich.edu/cu rriculum/IPE2004/statefair.htm Fairground facilities and grounds have periodically been used for other events and purposes when the Fair is not being staged. In the 1930s, the site was home to a horse track, in the 1950s to an auto racing facility, and in the 1980s to a softball facility | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5709 Registered: 11-2003 |
Excellent reference piece. Thanks Kenp. jjaba grew up calling the place the Fair-a-grounds. He remembers the Woodward PCC streetcars with "State Fair" destinations on them. On every Tuesday night in sumer, The Detroit Symphony Pops Concerts were held in the Band Shell, under the Baton of Valter Poole. Those were some nice evenings in the 1940s and 1950s. The concerts were broadcasted on the radio and jjaba loved to sit right outside the radio booth, stage left. The Musicians Union's Music Performance Trust Fund and Detroit Edison were the main sponsors. jjaba, Proudly Detroit. | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 455 Registered: 08-2007 |
Is it true that German and Italian POWs were housed at the State Fair during WWII? | ||
Ookpik Member Username: Ookpik Post Number: 365 Registered: 01-2007 |
Gnome, I think so. My Dad said there was and I have no reason to disbelieve him. As far as auto racing at the fairgrounds go - my cousins were very involved in that in the early 1950's. My cousin, now deceased, was always the owner/mechanic and did fairly well. One year he won the "Michigan Championship" or whatever it was called and got to race in the race that eventually became the Daytona 500. Several drivers who drove for him went on to race in the Indy 500. Ookpik | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 456 Registered: 08-2007 |
Met a lady at Tom's Tavern on 7 mile who told this story: In the early 1960's she was an exchange student in Hamburg Germany. She and a girlfriend get lost in the city and ask a guy for directions, turns out that his best buddy had been a POW in Detroit. He then takes the girls to meet this ex-POW. The former POW is a bank president in Hamburg, speaks perfect English and essentially adopts the girls for the rest of their stay in Hamburg. The ex-POW said he was housed at the Fairgrounds, and would be sent out as a day laborer to farms in Macomb County. He was always well treated by the farmers and by his guards. I've tried to research this story a bit, but a call to the State archives and to the State Fair HQ proved fruitless. Wonder where one would find more info. | ||
Plymouthres Member Username: Plymouthres Post Number: 310 Registered: 02-2007 |
Gnome- I know for a fact that Italian POW's were kept at Fort Wayne as there is a stone commemorating them and quite a few have been back over the years. Many stories are told by the folks who have been there working longer than I that they personally met some of the returnees, and those former POW's cried about the care and well being they were treated with by the Fort Wayne guards. Some even returned to Detroit to live after the war. As for the State Fair, this is the first I have ever heard about that but with my connections in the historical community, I should be able to verify this for you shortly. I shall see what I can dig up for you..... | ||
Gnome Member Username: Gnome Post Number: 457 Registered: 08-2007 |
Thanx Plymouthres, BTW do you know anything about the indians of Company K, 1st Michigan Sharpshooters? Been told they were mustered in at Fort Wayne and learned to march there. There was an entire company of Michigan Indians who served in the Civil War from 1863 until the end of the war. (Message edited by gnome on December 11, 2007) | ||
Norwalk Member Username: Norwalk Post Number: 155 Registered: 11-2006 |
Yes, Italian POW's were held at the State Fair Grounds as My godmother worked there and met her husband there when he was a POW. After the war he stayed and they were married. | ||
Plymouthres Member Username: Plymouthres Post Number: 312 Registered: 02-2007 |
Norwalk- I wish we had touched on this subject when we spoke at the FSC! Who could have known? Any more info on this? | ||
Caldogven Member Username: Caldogven Post Number: 141 Registered: 05-2006 |
Ookpik Was your cousin's last name Dawson? | ||
Ookpik Member Username: Ookpik Post Number: 366 Registered: 01-2007 |
Hi Caldogven, No. His last name was something like Sawalich. He always raced Fords and they were always # 60. Ookpik |
