Fairmount Park 200 Mile Stock Chassis Race

Early promotional map of a short lived stock car race.

From 1908 to 1911, the Quaker City Motor Club hosted the annual 200 Mile Stock Chassis Race against the objections of “old money” members of the city’s park commission. Held in Fairmount Park, the route was an 8 mile circuit that began and end in front of Memorial Hall and hosted sixteen drivers, including Louis Chevrolet, traveling at speeds of up to 60 mph for 25 laps. This map shows the route in solid black, with racers traveling past the Strawberry and Belmont Mansions, along the Schuylkill River and around George’s Hill. The park is now on the National Register of Historic Places, having hosted the 1876 Centennial Exposition and been home to the first zoo in the United States.

The races were suspended in 1912 after the city concluded that stock car races endangered the public (as well as the participants) and encouraged reckless behavior among its drivers. The Quaker City Motor Club lives on through car enthusiasts and historians alike.