I never knew that Beverly Hills had a racetrack, but this photo was identified as an aerial view of the Beverly Hills Racetrack, and is dated 1919. It was bordered by the future Lasky and South Beverly Drives, with Wilshire Blvd to the north and Country Club Drive to the south. (Country Club Drive was later renamed Olympic Blvd before the L.A. Olympics.) The track closed in 1924. Apparently, the building of the Beverly Hills “Speedway” began in 1919 to attract visitors but the could have saved themselves the bother—movie stars did a much better job.
FYI: this was a board track. In other words, it was constructed of wood as opposed to dirt. Boards were smoother and allowed the cars (or motorcycles) to go faster. But there were also subject to termites, splintering and worst of all, fire. There were 6 or 7 board tracks in SoCal as I understand it.
I never knew that Beverly Hills had a racetrack, but this photo was identified as an aerial view of the Beverly Hills Racetrack, and is dated 1919. It was bordered by the future Lasky and South Beverly Drives, with Wilshire Blvd to the north and Country Club Drive to the south. (Country Club Drive was later renamed Olympic Blvd before the L.A. Olympics.) The track closed in 1924. Apparently, the building of the Beverly Hills “Speedway” began in 1919 to attract visitors but the could have saved themselves the bother—movie stars did a much better job.
Aerial photo of Beverly Hills in 1922:
FYI: this was a board track. In other words, it was constructed of wood as opposed to dirt. Boards were smoother and allowed the cars (or motorcycles) to go faster. But there were also subject to termites, splintering and worst of all, fire. There were 6 or 7 board tracks in SoCal as I understand it.