1890 Nelson 4209 Trade Card Printed in Cleveland, Ohio

1901 Harness Racing Results -- Wallace Yearbook

1901 Harness Racing Results snipped from the 

Google digitized version of the 1901 Wallace Yearbook.

1894 Trotting Results -- Wallace Yearbook

Horse and Stable -- Boston, Friday, February 7, 1890

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Nelson -- King of the Stallions -- Cover of Dunton's Spirit of the Turf -- April 21, 1891

Trotting and Pacing Results for 1913 -- The Horse Review

Race results snipped from the Google digitized version of the Horse Review's 1913 Harness Racing Guide. By clicking an image you can review results by own in Photobucket. A number of the results consist of two or three files. The goal of this post was to give readers a quick look at the Maine towns supporting harness racing in 1913.

The Exhibitors at the 71st Maine Agricultural Trades Show -- The Augusta Civic Center, Augusta, Maine -- January 10, 1012

Views of the 71st Maine Agricultural Trade Show, Augusta Civic Center, Augusta, Maine

The 71ST Maine Agricultural Trade Show

1951 -- Painting by Josef Arnetz -- Pershing Hanover Jimmy Jordan Up

Last week I received a telephone call from Kirk Rau. Kirk was researching a painting that he had purchased at auction more than twenty years ago. The painting was of a harness racing horse by the name of Pershing Hanover with Jimmy Jordan up. As Kirk searched the web for information he found the Lost Trotting Parks Heritage Center blog. Today I visited with Kirk and he allowed me to photograph his painting and gave permission to share the image on the Lost Trotting Parks blog.

If anyone has any information or stories to share on the life of Jimmy Jordan or the horse Pershing Hanover, e-mail Stephen D. Thompson. Florence Drew of Augusta purchased Pershing Hanover at auction in 1945 for $1,700.00.

In Search of the Location of McFaul Park, Eastport, Maine

Nat Pennell and Inez Lombardo from the Washington County Soil and Water Conservation District, located and copied the two aerial images on the left of the following storyboard. The aerial images were taken in 1944. The image, top right, provides a property lines overlay, pinpointing the property owned by the McFaul's. Robert P. Scott, Eastport's town assessor, provided us with this aerial photo. If the entire trotting track was on the McFaul property there are two possible locations. One location would have removed the track's halo due to the construction of the airport runways in 1940-1941. The second location on the property show little evidence of a track. However if you examine the top right of the 1944 aerial photos you can see evidence of two possible track halos. The halo extending off the runway is too short -- only around 800 feet in length. However, if you look at the open space slanting downward to the right you can see or perhaps sense the evidence of a trotting track. (One may be the victim of a heightened track halo imagination on this one.) If this were were location of the track, then the track would have been on property owned by the McFaul's and a neighbor. Newspaper accounts of the construction of McFaul Park stated that Alexander McFaul built the park. He may not have owned all of the property upon which it was built. This may be an effort that needs the involvement of more local folks. Somewhere in Eastport or in the home of a descendant of an old Eastport family there just may be a photograph, a program, or a poster. Back in the day a steamship from Calais ventured to Eastport so fans of the trotting races could be in attendance. Where did the steamer land and how did the fans get from the steamer to the track. I have contacted the Tides Institute and others in Washington County. Hopefully, we will find the answer!

S.A. Wathen & Son -- On the Farm in Fort Fairfield 1951

Photographs courtesy of Wendell "Red" Wathen

From Stephen D. Thompson -- Creative Director & Founder of The Lost Trotting Parks Heritage Center

2012 will be the year that The Lost Trotting Parks Heritage Center will become a registered non-profit organization with the State of Maine. The goal will be to move the center beyond being a one-person research project. With more than 100 Maine communities that once supported trotting parks and more than 150 years to explore, it is important to find a way to involve more individuals and organizations in this research. It has been wonderfully rewarding to have the cooperation of so many people and organizations that have allowed me to conduct this research and post findings to the LTP Blog. I look forward to 2012 and continuing the research on Maine's Lost Trotting Parks and the age of "When the Horse was King."

If you would like to be involved in the Lost Trotting Parks Project, email Stephen Thompson.

My best to each of you in 2012!  Stephen D. Thompson

The Trotters and Pacers of the 19th Century -- A Slide Show in Tribute to the Work of Currier and Ives

The Currier and Ives Images in these storyboards are for sale.

Contact Stephen Thompson for Details!

Out with the Old -- In with New -- Happy New Year 1882

The Trotters and Pacers of the 19th Century -- A Tribute to Currier & Ives

-- A Forgotten Era Brought to Life --

-- Imagine --

Contact Stephen Thompson to order prints!