The Lost Trotting Parks Storyboard Archives

The Lost Trotting Parks Storyboard Archives

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

North Berwick's Lost Trotting Park


Now privately owned property and used by many as a walking path, North Berwick's lost trotting park is located off High Street, formerly the Sanford Road. To learn more about North Berwick, visit the web page of the North Berwick Historical Society.

Excerpted from the history of North Berwick:

"In the late 1800s, several townspeople founded an agricultural association and an annual fair was held in early September.

The fairgrounds were located on the west side of Route 4, high Street, about a mile out of town. The grounds had a half-mile trotting track, called Pine Grove Trotting Park, for harness racing, complete with a grandstand. it is said that Dan Hurd raised and raced some of the fastest horses there. The remnants of the track may still be seen some fifty yards from the highway. In the 1950s a take out restaurant called the Pine Grove Take Out was located at the edge of the old track.

Premiums were given for crops and livestock the local farmers had produced.

Judge Nathaniel Hobbs, Daniel Hurd, and others were principals in the organization. The fair ran for a number of years, but no recorded information on its demise could be found.

According to Harold "Mundy" Grant, "The Gypsies were trading horses at the fair, but were not allowed into the fairgrounds. They did their business under the pines just off the premises."

Click to enlarge the image!

No comments:

Post a Comment