Pioneer Race Course

Races! Pioneer Race Course advertisement dated June 12, 1853

Pioneer Race Course, also known as the Pioneer Race Track,[1] was a horse race track opened in March 1851, in the southern Mission District of San Francisco, California.[2]

Pioneer was the first race course in San Francisco.[3] At the time that it was built, no streets existed in the neighborhood. After construction, it appears to have been bounded by 24th St. (formerly Park St.), 26th St. (formerly Navy St.), Capp St., and Florida St.[4]

It was funded and built by local businessmen George Treat and his brother John Treat.[5] The racetrack was physically built by Alfred Green.[6]

The race course was sold to the San Francisco Homestead Association in 1862 (or 1863) for $500 per acre, but would be worth $20,000 per acre within a decade.[7] Lots within the property were auctioned in 1864. Early houses built within the property are now part of the Shotwell Street historic district,[8] and another house within the property may be the oldest remaining home building in San Francisco.[9]

  1. ^ "San Francisco Directory". SFGenealogy.org. 1863. Retrieved 2022-04-20.
  2. ^ Williams, Amy. "The Del Mar Race Track 75 Years of Turf and Surf" (PDF). San Diego History. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  3. ^ Sharpsteen, William Crittenden. "Vanished Waters of Southeastern San Francisco". The Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  4. ^ Lockwood, Charles. "The Mission Becomes a Resort, 1850s". FoundSF. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  5. ^ "When the Mission District was home to horse racing". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2017-08-26.
  6. ^ "SAN FRANCISCO CITY PLANNING COMMISSION RESOLUTION NO. 13559" (PDF). City of San Francisco. August 19, 1993. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  7. ^ Lockwood, Charles. "Real Estate Speculation Starts". FoundSF. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  8. ^ "South Mission Historic Resources Survey Historic District Description- Shotwell Street Victoriana" (PDF). San Francisco Planning Department. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  9. ^ "Treat Treatise". Burrito Justice. October 15, 2010. Retrieved October 12, 2014.