Racine Velodrome

Racine Velodrome 1897
From Dennis Tully: Grandstand of the Racine Velodrome
Dennis Tully: Map view of the area. Flett Ave. ran through it.
Gil Knapp: Map of the area

The Racine Journal-Times Sunday Bulletin, March 30, 1947

Baseball Series Recalls Days of Bicycle Racing

By JOHN D. ROBERTS

A nostalgic flavor about Pete Herman’s reminiscences of baseball in Racine, now running as a serial in the Sunday Bulletin, carries the writer back to the turn of the century when as a small boy he used to clamber over the south wall at Athletic park to see Pete, then a famous pitcher from Ruth, in action. One of the high spots with the city, off Washington avenue entrance, was the happy hunting ground of all the youngsters in the vicinity.

Covering 12 acres of land, owned by the Murray Hill Land company, the park undoubtedly was one of the finest athletic fields in Wisconsin. It was leased by the Racine Athletic club which was incorporated in July, 1896, with capital stock of $10,000 and besides the baseball diamond, football field and tennis courts, boasted a $3,000 quarter-mile bicycle track. Some of the greatest of American wheelmen were held here.

Formed Grid Team

The field marked materialization of a dream of William Mitchell Lewis, who on his return from Yale university in 1895, where he starred as center on the famous football eleven, organized the Racine Athletic Football club. This team suffered but two defeats in 1895 and none in 1896. Players included Captain Lewis, Manager Herbert F. Johnson, C. H. Baker Jr., Henry Smeiding, S. M. Harrington, H. Reiman, R. M. Boyd, J. Cowling, Fred Sugden, George H. Herzog, H. A. Lehfield, Vernon Rogers, E. H. Smieding, Z. R. Rodway, George Murphy, Glen Dixon, F. W. Gilbert, J. P. Ingalls, William B. Dick Jr., Fred Weisman, Harry Leonard and others.

First officers of the athletic club were: William M. Lewis, president; George H. Herzog, vice president; Ernest Shrader, secretary; James B. Baker, treasurer; and Casey and Fred Pfister, directors. Incorporators were Charles H. Baker, Frank Guilbert and John P. Ingalls.

Quarter-mile Track

The quarter-mile cement bicycle track was designed by C. E. Hawley of New York, who also designed the Manhattan Beach track in that city. Upon its completion Mr. Hawley said it was a better track than the one in New York. The track was constructed on an earth embankment upon which was placed 16 inches of cinders and 4½ inches of cement. The concrete was laid in alternate blocks of 30 feet, each arranged so as to permit its removal. It required 800 barrels of cement.

In front of the home stretch was constructed a covered grandstand with a seating capacity of 1,200. Each end was flanked by bleachers seating an additional 300. Dressing rooms were under the main grandstand.

Membership Grew

Racine had but five members in its branch of the League of American Wheelmen in 1888. This figure increased to 300 by 1897, when the annual bicycle meet was held on the new track. Original members were Henry Mitchell, John Arnsdale, Frank K. Bull, Henry Vansickle and Frank Mitchell.

Athletic park was scene of numerous events of historic importance, including the annual track and field games being detailed by Pete Herman in his serial. Also there were the football contests, the team being coached by John Richards, later University of Wisconsin grid coach, and Ben Donnelly, later coach at the University of Chicago.

But the events which attracted youths of the district, then an outskirt of Racine, were the bicycle races. After school and on Saturdays, boys of Washington and Asylum avenue and Sixteenth street section pedaled their bikes to the park and staged their own races. Among these races can be recalled Fred Freel, Roy Culbertson, Charles Hauer, Andy Christiansen, Bill Meischke and Charles Durnad.

Road races also were popular in those days, school course being from the Howland school to what is now Highway 20 to Union Grove (now Union Grove Junction road or what is now State Highway 11 with the finish line at Washington and Asylum avenue.

The boys made a shorter course, starting at Asylum and Asylum avenues, out Asylum avenue to the Beebe school and return over the same course. Holger, then called Holger Anderson, had an old second hand bike and was given a handicap of a point just south of the present greenhouses on Taylor avenue.

Royal Gunther and the writer were scratch men, starting at the finish line. On the quiet, Holger bought a fine new racing steed and lined up with the rest. When the scratch riders went by, Pederson’s starting point, they met him there on the finish line and racing they never will live down.

Jim Mercier: I have the original program booklet from July of 1897, showing the lists of races and prizes. There are a ton of old ads from Racine (including the Beebe Bicycle Co,), and facts about Racine. It contains over 70 pages, and was put out by the Racine Athletic Association.