[fwpcman]

I was scanning through the CD-Rom 'Antique Maps of Texas' under the 1920 Rogers map of Fort Worth and came across the Motor Speedway Stadium which was located on N. Houston St. between N. 6th and N. 7th. I have never heard of this before. Does anybody have any information or stories about this facility?

[djold1]

Thanks for looking at my AMoT CD. Hope you enjoy it. The 1919-1920 Rogers map of Fort Worth is probably the best of the older maps of the city because it covers everything including the Stockyards & Niles City, but not Arlington Heights.

I have always been interested in the Motor Speedway shown there and also the "Panther Park" baseball field is just to the north of it. Note that both places must have been busy destinations because the map shows a special loop for the streetcar tracks to unload at the ball park and of course the speedway.

I would also be interested in any history on the Speedway and the ballpark..

[mhill]

The motor speedway was a motorcycle track. They started building it in May 1919 and it opened I believe on July 16, 1919. It was a wood track with about 52 degree angle. Many of the leading motorcycle riders of the day rode at the track. The stadium held about 10,000 people. There is a file at the Fort Worth Public Library on the track. Panther Park was the home of the Fort Worth Cats before they moved to the east side of North Main.

[AndyN]

The original ballpark for the Cats was West of Main Street.