RACELAND, Ky. — A major piece of Raceland history was lost early Thursday morning as the clubhouse that was part of the Raceland Park burned down.

Around 2:39 a.m., the Raceland Fire Department, Russell Fire Department and the Flatwoods Fire Department were called to the former track property at Legion Drive and U.S. 23 and found the clubhouse fully engulfed in flames.

One of the property’s owners, Dan Howell, was at a nearby business parking lot talking with the various public officials.

“102 years down the drain,” he said when asked what his first reaction to the clubhouse burning down. “It is a great loss to our history. Raceland got its name from this track.

Howell said there was no electric or gas hooked up to the clubhouse, so he suspects the fire was started by a homeless person trying to stay warm.

“I’m not going to say it was a squatter, but I have had to repair doors two or three times where the door has been kicked down,” he said. “It’s a shame.”

The Raceland Park opened up in 1924 in what was then called Chinnville by John Oliver “Jack” Keene and was called the “Million Dollar Oval.”

In a 1923 issue of The Thoroughbred Record, “a complete racing and recreation plant” unlike any other in America was planned at Chinnville. Tri-State Fair and Racing Association owned and managed the track. Keene was taking journalists of that day on tours of the facility. Trains brought racing enthusiasts from Cincinnati, Lexington, Louisville, Portsmouth, Ashland, Catlettsburg, Russell, Charleston and Huntington.

“It is a beautiful one-mile stretch with a one-eighth mile chute. It is 90 feet wide on the back stretch and 100 feet wide on the curves and the home stretch. From the grandstand and lawn, a race may be seen for the entire circuit. In the inside of the track will be sunken gardens, a lake, bridle paths and flower beds. Around the entire grounds there will be a high woven wire fence such as is used to fence in factories. Honeysuckle and wild roses will in two or three years completely cover the fence.”

Raceland Track closed in 1929 due to a $2,500 fee by the State of Kentucky for every day there was a horse race.

For an in-depth story on the Raceland track—by Terry L. Hapney, Jr., Ph.D., professor at Marshall University—visit: https://works.bepress.com/terryhapney/15/.