Title supplied by cataloger. Jack Prince and Art Pillsbury built the Beverly Hills Speedway in 1919 on 275 acres of land, at a cost of $500,000. The 1.25-mile wood oval, which featured 45-degree banked turns, was funded by a group of actors and others in the industry known as the Beverly Hills Speedway Syndicate. The track was inaugurated on February 28, 1920, but after only four years the 70,000-seat stadium was disassembled to make room for other improvements in the newly incorporated city of Beverly Hills, holding its last race on February 24, 1924 before a crowd of 85,000. The developers eventually moved the racetrack to Culver City, and it was located at the intersection of Culver Blvd and Overland Blvd, right across the street from MGM Studios. It was at this "new" location and "new" track where Red Cariens was involved in a fatal crash on November 29, 1925. It was also at this location where Mickey Rooney's classic racing movie "The Big Wheel" (1949) was shot. This speedway was built at a time when car races were popular, so popular in fact, that there were radio broadcasts from the speedways. California had approximately six wooden track speedways, also known as "toothpick track" speedways. Culver City Speedway operated from December 14, 1924 to March 6, 1927; it was eventually removed to make way for movie studios. Aerial view of the Culver City Speedway in Culver City circa 1924. The automobile racetrack veers toward the left, and a cluster of cars drive across a white "hash mark" that is most likely the finish line. The large structure with multi-color tile is the grand stand and the smaller building to the right of it might be a clubhouse or restaurant under construction. The adjacent parking lot is full of cars.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;17 x 21 cm. on sheet 21 x 26 cm. Photographic prints
Culver City Speedway Racetracks (Automobile racing)--California--Culver City Automobile racing--California--Culver City Automobiles--California--Culver City Parking lots--California--Culver City Lost architecture--California--Culver City Prince, Jack Pillsbury, Art Culver City (Calif.) Culver City (Calif.)--Aerial views
If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.
Share your story
Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.
