Know Your Neighborhood: The Racetrack

The Racetrack is the iconic North Bergen neighborhood. The section of town that nearly every resident knows but most have no idea why it is called the Racetrack. The area has a rich history and it over shadowed by the infamous Guttenberg Racetrack that operated there during the end of the 19th century.  Today the neighborhood's streets are perfectly laid out in an ideal grid when compared to the rest of town. Starting at 81st Street and ending at 91st Street, this neighbor is locked between Bergenline Avenue and Kennedy Boulevard. It is interconnected by five tree-lined avenues with most of the original 1920s era construction still standing. The Racetrack is the most recognizable and sought after neighborhood in North Bergen.

1887 Hudson County Atlas
Courtesy of The New York Public Library

Prior to the Racetrack and what we know today, the area was part of the Bergen Wood's, a heavily forested and mostly uninhabited part of North Bergen. There were no roads leading  in or out, but around it. The work needed to cultivate the land too high of an investment. But that would all change in 1885.  The track was originally constructed under the supervision of Philip Hexamer, brother of Major William Hexamer. It served the North Hudson Driving Park Association for the residents of Hudson County to race their horses. The track was unaffiliated with any racing organization, a real locals only kind of place. They set their own standards for track conditions. It was a simple half-mile track and lacking of any accommodations for visitors. At the time of its creation it was dubbed an "outlaw track." 

Official Programme Circa 1890 

Courtesy of Darrin Hentze

Shortly after it's creation John Carr, a former Justice of the Peace and well known croupier leased the track. Carr formed the Hudson County Jockey Club with the help of three very powerful friends. County Clerk Dennis McLaughlin was known as "the moving spirit behind the track," and was one of the most politically influential men in Hudson County and right hand to Governor Leon Abbett. There was Nicholas Crusius a New York liquor dealer. Lastly there was Gottfied "Dutch Fred" Walbaum an established powerful bookmaker and infamous gambler. "The Big Four," as they were known, were demonized in the press after their purchase of the track. The Spirit painted them as "a few German and Celtic politicians, who openly boast they are above and beyond the law." The New York Sun said they ran the track "as absolutely as the Czar dominates Russia," a very dated statement in today's world but quite insightful to the men who operated the track. 

The Evening Journal

March 31, 1890

Courtesy of Jersey City Library

The track brought in roughly $5,000 a day for the "Big Four." At any race you could find twenty to thirty bookmakers. The bookmakers were charged $100 a day to work the track. Purses as large at $3000 ($85,000 today) drew very large crowds to the track, but they were usually won by someone in-the-know.  You could also to place bets on any race at any track in the country there, a first for the area. The track was expanded in 1889 to a full mile course. In addition a heated grandstand was built with a glass front to protect patrons from the elements during winter races. That same grandstand saw on a week day about 3000 visitors, while on a weekend of holiday could hold up to 12000 people. The Times called it "first class, bested only by the newly built Morris Park...as good as a track as there is in the country."  There was also a two-story clubhouse that could accommodate 400 people. Admission to the track was $1 ($28 today) The Big Four made so much money in the course of a year that Walbaum was able to purchase 90 percent ownership of Saratoga Race Track for $375000 ($10.6 million today) in 1890.

The Grandstand circa 1890

Courtesy of Lenny DiBrango

The "Gut" however was not a place for the soft skinned. The Tribune reported 

"Guttenberg in their hands [The Big Four]... a thieves' paradise. The felons of New York, Brooklyn, Jersey City , Newark and other cities made the Guttenberg track their place of rendezvous and their headquarters. Never was a more odious and detestable travesty of racing than that which was carried on among the sharpers, the sneak thieves, and the buccaneers of Guttenberg."

The Big Four added former assemblyman John Patrick Feeney to be the track's superintendent. Feeney was also the law at the track, but more importantly and interesting to the level of corruption, he was also a detective for the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office and President of the Jersey City Board of Police Commissioners. Given his position at the track and in law enforcement Feeney led raids against gambling houses and those who opposed not only the track but the Hudson County political machine.  They also ran a very advanced betting ring. Under the direction of Crusius, the track would print one hundred thousand clubhouse badges and spread them not just throughout Hudson County, but throughout the tri-state area. Walbuam stated they'd be in "in every barber shop, delicatessen store, fruit stand." All done not only to advertise the track, but to encourage betting at the track. 

William Glackens "Outside the Guttenberg Race Track"

Circa 1897

Courtesy of NSU Art Museum

As for the clientele that frequented the track, racing historian Steven A. Riess described the patrons as such:

"Guttenberg's audiences were mainly thugs and other disorderly characters, including Hoboken and Jersey City liquor dealers, ordered by McLaughlin and his friends to bet there instead of the Harrison and Newark betting parlors."

The New York Times gave this description:

"people who dared not show their faces in New York City during the daytime for fear of police recognition and arrest."

The Big Four and the "Gut" would face push back in 1892 from the Law and Order League. They made daily arrests, typically bookmakers. It was so bad that on several occasions Pinkerton agents were sent in to make arrests. However, the Big Four, in particular Walbuam had several very powerful friends in Hudson County. So much so that they came to his defense, and actually opposed the Law and Order League's inquires to the track. 

The track overall however never really held quality races. It served more as a training ground for horses that would go one to win major stakes. Most of the races were considered "low quality" where jockeys rode "second rate horses." The most famous horses to run at Guttenberg were Tammany, the 1893 horse of the year, and Lamplighter, a young upstart. The race between the two drew fifteen thousand spectators. Tammany easily won by several lengths in the one and a quarter mile race. Outside of this race, the track was famous for running horses year round in any weather condition. Races were held in snowstorms, sub zero temperatures and fog that blanketed the track. The New York Times reported on one such race:

“The race was run in a blinding snowstorm. When a fog horn blew, the people in the glass hothouse that they call a grandstand knew the race had started. But of it they could see absolutely nothing.”

 These races would be the Achilles heel of the track. The track introduced two year old racing which the press attacked the owners for as the horses bodies were not strong enough for that type of running. Along with the push back from the racing community, the outrageous amounts of arrests made at and near the park caused the town of North Bergen to keep a watchful eye on the track. But it was the state of New Jersey that put an end to racing at the Guttenberg track. In 1893 the state legislature considered sending the state militia to North Bergen to shut down any winter racing taking place. The Big Four used every connection that had to try to sway the state but it was to no avail. Reformers had taken control of the state and under extreme public pressure they abolished all horse racing in New Jersey. 

Jersey Journal 

January 5, 1925

Courtesy of the Jersey City Library

Outside of the Big Four and their legacy there is one person that was a larger than life figure. Agnes Sennett was dubbed the "Queen of Guttenberg" or known among the patrons of the track as "Queen Ag." Agnes was fixture at the "Gut." The track itself is already something of lore and grandeur in town history and Agnes Sennett exemplified it. Agnes and her husband James were very active at the track both as patrons and for running horses there. The Sennetts owned numerous race horses, most famously:  Eclipse, Dr. Williams and Our Johnnie. It is claimed that Our Johnnie once won the Sennetts one of the biggest purses of the tracks history, $80,000! 

The Hudson County Jockey Club circa 1890

Courtesy of Lenny DiBrango

The track did have some life after horse racing. Post horse racing the track hosted automobile racing. The Detroit Public Library has a great series of images that show what the track looked like circa 1910. Most of the original structures are still standing and show what a draw the track still was. The track and surrounding area was used by early aviators as a runway, which seems almost impossible to imagine today. However, the days of excitement were numbered for the track and it's new tenants. A fire described as “a spectacular blaze that illuminated the river and was clearly seen from Manhattan” destroyed the grandstand, clubhouse and surrounding buildings. By 1919 the land that once housed one of the most corrupt racing institution in the state was lotted, divided, and sold for development.

The Jersey Journal
August 31, 1919
Courtesy of Lenny DiBrango

Today, the quiet tree lined streets of the Racetrack show no signs of its once rambunctious past. The "old timers" we know today only remember what the old timers of their youth recalled of the track. Today we look at the track as a everything the era stood for: elegance, extravagance and wealth. When in reality it was a corruptly run money making scheme for some of the most influential men of the time. What is left of the track is only hearsay and legends,

 "The Hudson County Jockey Club was moved and turned into James Vincent Bicycles." 

"Parts of the grandstand were recycled into a home built on 84th Street." 

"Third Avenue was laid right on top of the track." 

For the last hundred years the Racetrack Section of North Bergen has been and continues to be one of the most sought after real estate markets in town. That said it still holds true to the idea of North Bergen having a small town feel were you get to know your neighbors.  Home to two of the oldest businesses in town, Hansen Brothers and James Vincent Bicycles. A North Bergen institution like Atlas Drugs that has serviced the community for generations call the Racetrack home as well. Where North Bergen's Italian heritage is still very evident with eateries like La Sorrentina, Roma Pizzeria and Di Palma Brothers. Places like Harry's Food and Drink, Tapas de Espana and Blanc have added an new breathe of life into the neighborhood. Lastly, you can stroll the avenues are see original architecture of the 1920s, with Dutch Colonials, Colonial Revivals, American Foursquare and Modern English homes line the now tranquil streets of the Racetrack. 

Sources:

Kevin Martin (2010) Winter Racing at New Jersey's Guttenberg Race Track, 1885 - 1893. Colin's Ghost Thoroughbred Racing History

Steven A. Riess (2011) The Sport of Kings and the Kings of Crime. 1. Horse Racing, Politics, and Crime in New York, 1865-1913. Syracuse University Press

T.D. Thornton (2014). Outlaw Track Gave Rise To Winter Racing. Daily Racing Forum.

“Of Winter Racing,” Lewiston Evening Journal, Febuary 26, 1892

“No More Winter Racing,” New York Times, March 12, 1893

“Race-Track Men Please Guilty,” June 1, 1894

“Will the ‘Big Four’ Escape?,” New York Times, April 21, 1895

“Fire Ends Old Guttenburg[sic],” New York Times, January 16, 1910

"Formerly Rish "Queen Ag" Is Charity Charge," The Jersey Journal, January 5, 1925

"Public Officials In Funeral Train of Race Track Queen" The Jersey Journal, January 7, 1925

Minor, Audax, “The Race Track,” December 14, 1957