FEW FUN FACTS ABOUT MULTNOMAH STADIUM

Comments

[Tom]

My father grew up near Vaughn street in the 1920's and said a small bleacher was built so neighborhood kids could watch the games for free built outside the fence. Like a lot of my dads stories there was a lot of embellishment but a kernal of truth.

[DG]

From about 1933-1934 through 1955 Multnomah Kennel Club held Greyhound dog races at the stadium, because the Portland Beavers were moving in.-- For about the next two years they raced at Portland Meadows horse racing track until they completed the dog racing track in Wood Village.-- Several years after dog racing ended locally and the track sat empty a private group tried and failed to open a casino at the old track.-- Not wanting the competition for your $$$$ the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde bought the track and demolished it.

The track shown in this photo I don't think is the dog track.

[scuddie]

Interesting pic. I thought the original construction included the 2/3 horshoe.

[Todd]

Also built on top of a tannery and Part of Tanner Creek runs under it. Legend states that the very large oak barrels used by the tanner are buried under the field.

[Ernest]

Dog racing at Portland Meadows was a one year event (1956) and Fairview Park (MKC) opened a bit late in the summer of 1957. Dog racing at PM was very successful, bringing bigger crowds and higher mutual handle ($$$) than the horses at the time. Those were strange days, indeed.

[Joel]

My mom and dad met at Multnomah Stadium when my dad was a teller at the "dogs" and my mom was serving as a runner for my grandfather and his cronies.

My folks were working their "sidehustles." My dad worked the payout windows as a second job and my mom got a percentage of any wins from my grandfather and three friends who went to the dog races every night. They won enough that my dad must have seen enough of my mom to like what he saw.