Hollywood Park racetrack opened in the Inglewood area of Los Angeles (near L.A. International Airport) in 1938 by the Hollywood Turf Club, whose chairman was Jack Warner (from Warner Bros.) It closed during the war years when it was used for storage. On the night of May 5, 1949, the grandstand caught fire. It was bad timing as a million-dollar upgrade had recently been completed. As we can see from this spectacular shot, fire engulfed the entire grandstand. I can only imagine the heat it generated. The stand was rebuilt in 1950, and the track continued to hold meets until 2013. Part of the site is now home to the new SoFi stadium.
Here’s aerial shot of it not long after it opened in 1938. The parking lot is bigger than the racetrack…naturally.
I remember that fire. We had recently moved to in Westchester and could see the fire from our house. My father took me to Inglewood to see the fire up close. It was spectacular.
I remember the fire. I live a couple of miles from the track and sold newspapers at the intersection of Vermont and Century. Big news.
I realize that horses had much more interest to people back in the day; people were more familiar with them from recent history, etc, and therefore the full parking lot. People then (and now) are fascinated by horses running around a track (and gambling, also). Baseball was big back then: everybody knew the batters’ stats, team standings, etc. I mean, EVERYBODY. I never “got” the appeal of either, especially since there have been big doping scandals in both sports