In the first half of the 20th century, Lakewood Heights was established as a residential area populated by many General Motors workers. The neighborhood took its name from a recreation and resort area known as Lakewood Park that later became the old Lakewood Fairgrounds.There is some evidence that Native American communities existed in the South River watershed which runs north/south through the site.
A significant contribution to the area was the Lakewood Speedway, which was a one-mile dirt oval track located on the Southeastern Fairgrounds, around the Poole's Creek Reservoir. At various times, a quarter-mile dirt oval, known as "Little Lakewood", as well as a quarter-mile dirt drag strip, also operated there. The track was located in off Lakewood Avenue. The Southeastern Fairgrounds were built in 1915 with a one-mile horse track.
The first auto race was a motorcycle race between Ralph DePalma and Barney Oldfield on July 28, 1917. Auto racing continued until October 2, 1941, and resumed after World War II, running from September 2, 1945 through September 3, 1979. The quarter-mile dirt oval operated from July 11, 1946 through 1948, again in 1951, and finally on May 28, 1966. The drag strip operated from April 24,1954, though 1957, and was the site of the first organized drag race in Georgia.
Lakewood Amphitheater, formerly known as the Aarons Amphitheater, now sits on the old fairground site. Many of the fairgrounds original buildings now house flea market vendors. The concrete grandstands on the front straightaway still remain albeit covered in grass and hedges. The Amphitheater parking lot covers what once were the third and fourth turns. A roadway to the Amphitheater crosses what was Turn Two. The front straightaway is now paved and is used as a part of the road leading out to Lakewood Avenue. Most of the Fairground’s lake has been filled in, and only a small pond in the old Turn One area remains to hint of the original lake.
At the turn of the century, the Lakewood Heights was located just south of the 19th century urbanized Atlanta and the neighborhoods of Summerhill, Mechanicsville and Peoplestown. The area’s development in the early 20th century was secured by three separate, but interrelated, forces:
These communities eventually grew together creating a unique area of population and land use diversity which reached its peak around 1960 when the construction of the I75/I85 freeway connector and the onset of industrial out-migration began the long process of deterioration.
The last 40 years of decline is not the end of the story! As we see today the residents of Lakewood Heights are on the move and want to see their community rise again. One cleanup, one “greenovated“ house, and one street at a time will turn this post industrial neighborhood into a “healthy holistic oasis”!
A significant contribution to the area was the Lakewood Speedway, which was a one-mile dirt oval track located on the Southeastern Fairgrounds, around the Poole's Creek Reservoir. At various times, a quarter-mile dirt oval, known as "Little Lakewood", as well as a quarter-mile dirt drag strip, also operated there. The track was located in off Lakewood Avenue. The Southeastern Fairgrounds were built in 1915 with a one-mile horse track.
The first auto race was a motorcycle race between Ralph DePalma and Barney Oldfield on July 28, 1917. Auto racing continued until October 2, 1941, and resumed after World War II, running from September 2, 1945 through September 3, 1979. The quarter-mile dirt oval operated from July 11, 1946 through 1948, again in 1951, and finally on May 28, 1966. The drag strip operated from April 24,1954, though 1957, and was the site of the first organized drag race in Georgia.
Lakewood Amphitheater, formerly known as the Aarons Amphitheater, now sits on the old fairground site. Many of the fairgrounds original buildings now house flea market vendors. The concrete grandstands on the front straightaway still remain albeit covered in grass and hedges. The Amphitheater parking lot covers what once were the third and fourth turns. A roadway to the Amphitheater crosses what was Turn Two. The front straightaway is now paved and is used as a part of the road leading out to Lakewood Avenue. Most of the Fairground’s lake has been filled in, and only a small pond in the old Turn One area remains to hint of the original lake.
At the turn of the century, the Lakewood Heights was located just south of the 19th century urbanized Atlanta and the neighborhoods of Summerhill, Mechanicsville and Peoplestown. The area’s development in the early 20th century was secured by three separate, but interrelated, forces:
- Development of commercial uses and a residential neighborhood along Jonesboro Road and its associated streetcar line, and the parallel development of an industrial area, which included a General Motors assembly plant.
- Development of an African-American community adjacent to the Gammon Theological Seminary and Clark University, now the site of Atlanta’s Carver High School.
- Development of the Southeast Regional Fairgrounds on the site of the city’s first waterworks plant along Lakewood Avenue with streetcar access from downtown Atlanta and subsequent development of large public and private housing projects along Pryor Road.
These communities eventually grew together creating a unique area of population and land use diversity which reached its peak around 1960 when the construction of the I75/I85 freeway connector and the onset of industrial out-migration began the long process of deterioration.
The last 40 years of decline is not the end of the story! As we see today the residents of Lakewood Heights are on the move and want to see their community rise again. One cleanup, one “greenovated“ house, and one street at a time will turn this post industrial neighborhood into a “healthy holistic oasis”!
More Details on Lakewood Heights' Racing History
Good day, I hope this message finds all of you well.
My name is Brandon Reed. I am the editor and webmaster of Georgia Racing History.com as well as being a volunteer at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame in Dawsonville, Georgia.
It was with much delight that I found your website and read your mission statement. For far too long, the Lakewood Heights area has been ignored by bureaucrats and developers alike, and has been allowed to degrade while many turned their backs. It is refreshing to see a group who wants to rejuvenate and honor such a historic and important area such as Lakewood.
It's with that in mind that I send you this email. As you want to rejuvenate and protect the historic areas around Lakewood, myself and countless others want to protect a very historic spot that has long been neglected and allowed to waste away.
I was very pleased to read on your history page the information you have listed about the famed Lakewood Speedway, which was located at the fairgrounds. Racing historians around the state, myself included, will tell you in no uncertain terms that Lakewood is the most historic and important racing facility, bar none, in the history of Georgia motor racing.
Please allow me to share a little expanded background information:
The Lakewood Speedway was constructed in 1916 around the Poole's Creek Reservoir, which was the first reservoir and home of the first water works for the city of Atlanta following the civil war.
After the city built a new water works, the Lakewood land, which had previously been Native American land, was developed into a fairgrounds facility, complete with a one-mile dirt track for horse racing.
The first motor racing that took place on the track was on July 4, 1917, featuring motorcycles. The first automobile race held there was on July 28, 1917, featuring a "dirt track champions" match event between two legendary drivers, Ralph DePalma and Barney Oldfield. DePalma emerged the winner after a problem with Oldfield's car sent him into the lake.
Motor racing would continue at the facility for the better part of the next 62 years. Every type of motor racing took place at Lakewood, from Indy Cars to Stock Cars, from midget cars to motorcycles, from sprint cars to even speed boats on the lake!
By 1951, Lakewood Speedway was one of the five fastest race tracks in the country, along with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Langhorne Speedway in Pennsylvania, the Beach and Road course at Daytona Beach and the Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.
A few highlights from over the years includes:
- Lakewood was the site of the first organized event for what are now considered stock cars in 1938. The event was won by Georgia Racing Hall of Fame member Lloyd Seay, considered by many to be the greatest natural talent behind the wheel.
- Lakewood played host to several Indy Car events over the years, with drivers such as Ted Horn, Bill Holland, George Conner, Eddie Sachs and Joie Chitwood visiting victory lane.
- Lakewood was the site of the only dead heat finish ever recorded in AMA motorcycle history.
- Lakewood was a long time stop for what is now the NASCAR Sprint Cup division, with winners such as Georgia Racing Hall of Fame member Tim Flock, Fireball Roberts, Herb Thomas, Junior Johnson and Lee Petty.
- Lakewood was the site of one of the most talked about moments in NASCAR history. On June 14, 1958, Richard Petty was flagged as the winner of the NASCAR event there in what would have been the first of 200 victories for him. But the win was protested, and after a check of scoring, it was found that Richard was credited with one lap more than he should have been. The win was taken from Richard and given to the person that had protested - none other than Richard's father, Lee Petty.
There is another reason why the track is very important in the world of motorsports, though it is not a happy reason. As far as we've found so far, 14 racers lost their lives at Lakewood Speedway. The track was treacherous and dangerous, with the first turn cut at a severe angle to negotiate both the edge of the lake as well as Lakewood Avenue.
Among those that were killed was the defending Indy 500 winner in 1946, George Robson. Robson was killed, along with Texas driver George Barringer, in a four-car crash on Lakewood's backstretch (which know serves as the access road from Lakewood Avenue to the Amphitheater) in an Indy Car event on Labor Day of 1946.
It's in the memory of Mr. Robson and Mr. Barringer, along with the 12 other people who perished while racing at Lakewood, that we work to honor the track and all who raced there. To many of us, it's not just the site of an old race track. Rather, it's more hallowed ground.
The final race at Lakewood was held on Labor Day of 1979. A few years later, portions of the lake were filled in, and the Amphitheater was built on portions of the third and fourth turns, doing away with the speedway forever.
It is my hope, and the hope of many others, that some day the remains of the track will be used as a park or walking/bike riding trail area that will preserve what precious little is left of the great speedway, and will allow future generations to learn of what went on there.
This has been done before, mainly using volunteer labor and materials, at former race tracks located in Hillsboro, North Carolina and Columbia, South Carolina. With all the rich history that Lakewood has, it would be a tragedy to lose this important part of our heritage.
On August 7 of this year, the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame will hold the third annual Lakewood Speedway reunion at the Hall in Dawsonville. I would like to invite you to please attend the event. It will give you an opportunity to meet some of those people who raced at the great track, and will also give you a chance to share with those people what you are trying to do to preserve and rejuvenate the area. I promise you, they are all concerned about what happens there.
I would also like to meet with you, perhaps during an upcoming meeting, to formally introduce myself and answer any questions you may have about the history of the track. My hope is that our goals can become mutual ones, and that perhaps through the attention we can garner, that we can rebuild Lakewood Heights and preserve the history of Lakewood Speedway at the same time.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I look forward to talking to you very soon. Thank you again.
Brandon Reed
Georgia Racing History
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Shooting the Chutes at Early American Amusement Parks
Lakewood Park's Shoot-the-Chutes, Atlanta, GA, ca. 1895
Print advertisement for Lakewood Park, an areapark located south of downtown Atlanta.
(Clipping from the Atlanta Constitution,
April 25, 1896.)
"The Shoot-the-Chutes ride at Lakewood Park was originally at the Atlanta International Cotton States Exposition in 1895. The popular attraction was purchased by the Lakewood Park Company and moved to Lakewood Park in southern Fulton County before the start of the 1896 park season." (Source: "Shooting the Chutes," Atlanta Constitution (April 9, 1896), pg. 10.
In the last decades of the nineteenth century, privately-owned amusement parks dotted the American landscape, and by 1920, between fifteen-hundred and two-thousand parks with names like Electric, Riverside, and White City stood outside small towns and major cities. Locals flocked to parks' mechanical rides and novel attractions; historian Lauren Rabinovitz describes the early twentieth-century amusement park as "an Erector-set world of mechanical thrill rides, shows of human and animal oddities, saloons and swimming pools, beer gardens and ballrooms, restaurants and roller skating rinks…characterized by its dynamism — its brash colors, constant noise, and continual movement of people and machinery." Filled with newfangled rides and novel attractions, these parks drew an assortment of patrons searching for new ways to spend their leisure time.
These mechanical wonderlands were generally located on the urban perimeter, and often operated like small, self-contained towns with their own electrical and plumbing systems. Parks boasted outdoor rides, shows, gardens, pavilions, and lakes surrounded by a physical barrier separating their lush grounds from the outside world. Because of this, parks have been seen as separate, protected worlds, quasi-utopian spaces where new forms of play and social interaction could emerge. In his study of Coney Island during the last years of the nineteenth century, John Kasson remarks: "Coney thus offers a case study of the growing cultural revolt against genteel standards of taste and conduct that would swell to a climax in the 1920s." Noting changes in technology and the rise of the "play movement," Kasson suggests Coney Island was "a harbinger of mass culture" that helped bring about new codes of conduct as well as cross-racial relationships. Kasson's history offers a relatively rosey view of amusement parks as mass-cultural melting pots. However, the transition from exclusive leisure spot to all-inclusive wonderland often did not happened as quickly, or as easily, or at all.
Although these venues offered numerous open-air attractions, privately-owned parks were enclosed by fences and other barriers designed to prevent "undesirables" from entering. In fact, these sites were not the harbingers of mass culture, but carefully regulated spaces that emphasized the social conventions established outside its walls. Park owners, particularly in the American South, upheld the segregationist practices of the larger society, often allowing admission only to white patrons or carefully regulating times and reasons for people of color to enter the park.
The structure of these spaces reflected other cultural ideas of the period as well. While parks advertised an array of rides, shows, and attractions, their physical location also allowed visitors to indulge in popular mid-nineteenth century pastimes associated with "healthful" rejuvenation through communion with nature. Mechanized parks near cities were frequently built on the site of a picnic grove or spring already popular with local city dwellers seeking escape from urban life. Enterprising individuals often bought the property where these natural spots were located and built a panoply of mechanical attractions to draw more patrons.
Local streetcar companies also developed amusement parks to increase revenues. Trolley parks were enclosed amusement parks situated at the end of a trolley line. Although these parks often offered free admission, trolley companies still benefited financially from their existence in several ways. The park's location at the line's end helped ensure that cars traveled at near full capacity during their entire route, rather than departing and arriving at the end station with no passengers. Also, because many of these parks were located on the outskirts of cities, trolley lines could charge an added five or ten cents to their standard fare. Popular amusements also assured that more people would ride the trolley outside of their daily commutes, particularly on weekends. The trolley park taught people to see and use the trolley for their leisure activities in addition to daily transit.
Most early amusement parks offered similar attractions like the Ferris Wheel, Giant Swing, Shoot-the-Chutes, or Scenic Railway. In addition, owners marketed their operations in ways that attempted to exploit the cachet held by famed parks like Luna Park, Dreamland, Steeplechase, and White City. As electric parks like those on Coney Island became more popular and financially lucrative, smaller versions opened outside towns and cities of every size across the nation.
More details to be added to this history as they become known…
