Dusty Relics of Arkansas History
January 1-7, 2018
Essex Park
By Bob Denman
Gulpha Creek runs south and east of Hot Springs and is popular today with outdoor enthusiasts. It was as a famous spot in the late 19th century for something entirely different. The low water ford of Gulpha Creek south of town and just a few hundred yards from today’s Malvern Highway was where both Jesse James and the Cole Younger Gang robbed the stagecoach running from Malvern to Hot Springs. The coach had to slow down to cross the creek making it the perfect place to relieve passengers of their money. The robbers would skedaddle to a mountaintop cave just outside of town on the old Little Rock highway.
The property just south of the creek became Essex Park Race Track, also a place to relieve locals of their money. Essex Park was the Spa City’s first modern thoroughbred race track opening in 1904 and predating the opening of Oaklawn by a year. Essex Park had a beautiful grandstand that rivaled Oaklawn, a magnificent clubhouse, and a paddock and barn area housing 400 thoroughbreds.
Horse racing had already proven itself a popular past time in Hot Springs. The cities first track, Sportsman’s Park, operated southeast of town during the 1890s on what became Majestic Park and is today the Boys and Girls Club. It was a half mile oval with the backstretch running parallel to Hot Springs Creek.
The 1904 Essex meet was a huge success in part because of is close proximity to the railroad running between Hot Springs and Malvern. It was an easy ride out and short walk for patrons wishing to spend an afternoon at the races. The owners of the popular Southern Club on Central Avenue thought a track closer to town would be even more successful and in 1905 Oaklawn opened for its first meet.
A wave of anti-gaming sentiment swept the nation in 1907 closing 30 tracks including both Essex and Oaklawn Parks. Ten years later, using very creative political maneuvering, both tracks opened again to much fanfare. The day after the grand reopening of Essex Park, and after a major renovation and facelift, Essex Park burned to the ground. While Oaklawn thrived, Essex never reopened.
Today the property is the home of Essex Park Golf Course still hard by the old train tracks and Gulpha Creek. Visit the course and you can still make out the outline of the old racing surface and the low water ford of Gulpha Creek near the tracks backstretch. I visited with my family a few years ago to play golf and see the old property. On the par 5 eighth hole I pushed a shot to the right, my usual miss, and found the ball sitting on a large expanse of concrete. Getting my bearings and looking at the old one mile racing oval, I realized the eighth hole ran right down the homestretch. The concrete where my ball came to rest was the foundation of the beautiful old grandstand. Over a hundred years later, the bones of the racing facility are still easy to find.
If you enjoy racing at Oaklawn you are likely familiar with the Essex Handicap run each February. It is no doubt a tip of the hat from Oaklawn today to its old rival, Essex Park, a dusty relic of Arkansas history.
