The first picture is a 1927 view of property across the street from what would become Jackson Park Golf Course. Looking west, the circle shows the intersection of 15th Ave. N.E. and N. 137th St. The lower right corner shows the Olympic Riding and Driving Club, a polo field and ….just a guess but looking at the photo I think the “driving” part might mean the outer perimitter was a race track?… The “now” Old House on the N.E corner of the intersection would become the Caroline Tavern which is still open today.
Humorist Will Rogers played polo at the club in 1935 prior to his death in a plane crash in Alaska. A memorial to Rogers’ memory erected at the club has been moved to the Lake City Community Center.
Where’s all the tree’s?
I remember when the old polo field barn burned down. It was dark out and embers were dropping from the sky. I lived on 15th PL NE.
I lived not too far from the Polo grounds, in the late 50’s, it was a riding stables by then. The horses would ride through our neighborhood, and my mom would pay me to scoop poop for her flowers. There was an Ostrom’s mushroom factory not far from our house, they also got some of the horse dung. On a hot summer day the farm was quite odiferous. I had a summer job mucking stalls to earn riding time.