Independence Day fell on a Friday in 1930. That day Pittsburgh newspapers reported that a new greyhound racing track would open in the evening with a slate of nine races planned. The Guyasuta Kennel Club had rented a portion of the National Amusement Park Company’s leased property (known as National Park) between Aspinwall and Blawnox and built a dirt track and grandstands. Over the next 24 hours, the track, which was backed by Pittsburgh numbers racketeers, would find itself featured in newspaper articles across the region for a series of opening day mishaps and the betting taking place out in the open.
In May I will be doing a virtual program about the Guyasuta Kennel Club and its place in Pittsburgh History. The program will take place on two successive Wednesday evenings, May 13 and May 20:
- May 13, 2020: Sponsored by the Heinz History Center’s Rauh Jewish History Program and Archives. Registration information is at the Heinz History Center website.
- May 20, 2020: Sponsored by the Cooper-Siegel Community Library (Fox Chapel, Pa.). Registration information is at: http://engagedpatrons.org/EventsExtended.cfm?SiteID=3665&EventID=411493&PK=.
Participants must register to receive the Zoom link and login instructions.
Harry “Kid” Angel and Frank “Froy” Nathan, two former Hill District racketeers who backed the Guyasuta Kennel Club.
The city numbers racketeers who financed the Guyasuta Kennel Club were a mix of Jewish gamblers and numbers bankers who lived in the Hill District and Squirrel Hill along with a flamboyant German gambler with roots in the city’s North Side. Together they controlled the much of numbers rackets in the Northside’s neighborhoods.
The dog track was an opportunity for the racketeers to keep their sports betting in-house. It was supposed to be a win-win proposition for all involved. The racketeers would take money in from the gate and they would get a cut from the gambling proceeds. The National Park was supposed to get rent and a cut from the bets.
The racketeers’ plans went awry even before the track opened. As construction was nearing completion, the contractor hired to install the racing apparatus was arrested on an extradition warrant from another state. Opening night, that contractor’s mechanical rabbit malfunctioned; several dogs were injured and killed. After only three races that inaugural night, the track closed for repairs.
By the time that the track reopened a few days later, it had caught the eye of Allegheny County’s district attorney. Robert Park met stiff resistance in his efforts to shut the track permanently. Over the following three weeks, Park’s detectives collected evidence of illegal betting. The track was again closed and reopened as the district attorney sought a judicial fix.
In late July and early August, now in receivership, the track attempted to operate without open betting. The receiver quickly learned that it would not be profitable and the track closed permanently on August 8.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 9, 1930.
After the Guyasuta Kennel Club episode, Allegheny County strengthened its enforcement of gambling laws. In 1934, residents of O’Hara Township formed Fox Chapel Borough and they cited the amusement park and racetrack among their reasons for wanting to leave the township. Less than a decade later, some of the same racketeers opened another track in nearby Ohio. In its fourth season, the state’s attorney general closed that track for violating the state’s gambling laws.
The former Guyasuta Kennel Club site disappeared after the track and amusement park were cleared for later development.
Guyasuta Kennel Club. Sanborn Map Company, 1930 Fire Insurance map of Blawnox, Pa. Copy courtesy of Tom Powers.
Guyasuta Kennel Club. Sanborn Map Company, 1938 Fire Insurance map of Blawnox, Pa. Copy courtesy of Tom Powers.
Curious yet? Don’t wait for my forthcoming article in Pittsburgh Quarterly magazine later this year or for my book to be published. Register for one of the May programs for a front row seat to this amazing story of gambling entrepreneurialism and political corruption. Also, you can follow @MobsBurgh on Twitter.
See you trackside.
Note: An earlier version of this post contained incorrect location information derived from 1940s aerial photography and narrative descriptions. O’Hara Township historian Tom Powers emailed me with the correct information along with copies of Sanborn fire insurance maps (unavailable to me during the COVID-19 lockdown) showing the track’s precise location.
© 2020 D.S. Rotenstein
Shortlink for this post: https://wp.me/p1bnGQ-3z7