Quote:
Originally Posted by procab
Most recently known as Saugus Speedway. Originally called Baker Ranch Stadium it was built in '27, renamed Bonelli Stadium around '37-8 and is still owned by the Bonelli family.
|
Congratulations to Mr procab on this one. I mistakenly called Saugus/Bonelli Stadium... Santa Anita. I removed my previous text and correctly identified the location.
Movie cowboy
Hoot Gibson
The track started out as a rodeo arena called Baker Ranch Stadium in 1927. Its construction was announced in December 1926. It was owned by
Roy Baker, brother of shoe businessman C. H. Baker. The stadium held 18,000 spectators. During the Great Depression, it was sold in 1930 to Cowboy actor
Hoot Gibson.
In 1924, cowboy movie star
Hoot Gibson built a 35 acre ranch and rodeo grounds along the railroad tracks and Soledad Canyon Road. Over the years, he hosted many shows, and the spectators came from the city to witness the events. Gibson attracted the Hollywood crowd and used his ranch as a movie set. He also leased it to other companies making films, but rodeos continued to be the main event.
William Bonelli purchased Hoot Gibson’s ranch in 1937 and built a quarter mile dirt track. Bonelli Ranch Stadium hosted a myriad of events, showcasing midgets and hot rods (roadsters). Later, the track was expanded to one-third mile and in 1954, the surface was paved and the named changed to Saugus Speedway. Saugus Speedway grew and gained in popularity, much as the rodeo grounds did before it. The paved track enabled the transition to stockcars, which was the primary race event through 1995, when after 56 years, the races went silent.
William G. Bonelli (1895–1970) was a California politician who became a powerful member of the state Board of Equalization and fled to Mexico to avoid arrest on a corruption indictment. He died a fugitive in Mexico on November 24, 1970.
Bonelli hired journalist Leo Katcher to ghost-write
Billion Dollar Blackjack: The Story of Corruption and the Los Angeles Times (1954), in which Bonelli, as the ostensible author, defended himself and attacked the Chandlers. He also sued the Mirror for $1.15. million for libel; it had run front-page stories calling him the Liquor Czar. Facing an impending grand jury indictment, Bonelli found exile in Mexico where he spent the rest of his life. He tried numerous times to have the court case moved from Los Angeles County to San Diego County because he said he could never get a fair trial in Los Angeles County because it was under the control of the Times.
Bonelli had a running battle with the Los Angeles Police Department and Harrison Gray Otis's and Harry and Norman Chandler's Times — which he likened to "a black-jack, a bludgeon, a weapon to be used in behalf of their friends and against their enemies." In his book he accused the Times of all manner of malfeasance, from king-making and union busting to subverting laws, violating civil rights and "aligning class against class, race against race, in an attempt to make bigger profits for themselves.
Corruption in Los Angeles? One might say that Los Angeles is the mother of corruption when it comes to city politics.
Ben and Bob Bonelli (sons of William G. and Mary Bonelli) standing in front of the old ranch house on the site.
William G. and Mary Bonelli in front of the ranch house, Saugus, before he fled to Mexico. He always maintained he was innocent of all charges of corruption.
William Bonelli purchased Hoot Gibson’s ranch in 1937 and built a quarter mile dirt track. Bonelli Ranch Stadium hosted a myriad of events, showcasing midgets and hot rods. Later, the track was expanded to one-third mile and in 1954, the surface was paved and the named changed to
Saugus Speedway. Saugus Speedway grew and gained in popularity, much as the rodeo grounds did before it. The paved track enabled the transition to stockcars, which was the primary race event through 1995, when after 56 years, the races went silent.
Today the site is called
Saugus Swapmeet.
Prev
Curiously, at least one source links Dempsey with Saugus, so perhaps this is more than just wishful thinking? 
Also in the above photo is the Zelda Apartments.
Linear Mode
