kac Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 If it has been heavily developed then lidar maps may not show much. Another option is either the town hall for records or their local library. Should be some archives there. HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F350Platinum Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 I have a legendary horse track near me, and the only way I found it was from verbal historical accounts, and just plain searching. Sadly it was hit before. Aerial photos dating to the 60s show some things, but current Lidar gives no indication. I ended up finding places where there were cooking pits, buttons and horse tack, got a lot of stuff there, found two spots with heavy iron and dug lots of stuff there. I even found a couple broken stopwatches in the middle. A few coins were found but the bulk of stuff was probably taken by someone that did not have permission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCR Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 You may just have to get on the ground after carefully considering where the period roads were combined with level ground. A typical horse/surrey track would be Quarter mile or Half mile, so 1/8 or 1/4 mile end to end. The turns would have been banked on a better track. These may show up on LiDAR. So between historical accounts, Historic Aerials, Topographical, LiDAR you should be able to narrow the search. Concentrations of nails & horse tack items will be in the stable & outbuildings area which would normally be on the Starting Lane at one end. There will also be some evidence of a housing area for the on site workers. The spectator area would be on one of the long sides toward the Start/Finish line end. The view toward the track would not be looking into the Sun. This is what I have found out researching and hunting a late 19th century Surrey track. Not much in the center of the track oval. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strick Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 This is an easy one just ask Gerry I'm sure he knows of it since he is in your area. strick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_e Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 I found a late 1800's racetrack in a situation similar to yours. I used historicmapworks.com and found it on an 1876 map. I then used google earth to do a semi-transparent image overlay to find the exact location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GB_Amateur Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 Local libraries are good repositories of historical info and librarians tend to be very helpful. And don't be surprised to find there were old newspapers even in small towns -- much bigger deal than today. Sometimes small towns had more than one! Libraries will have those on microfiche or maybe even on CD/DVD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Scout Posted April 1 Author Share Posted April 1 Thanks to everyone for ideas. I may have time later this week to check " the library" in town. Although talking to some of old timers may have better clues. The town was picked up'd and moved four miles west when the train came in, they weren't willing to come all the way. The race track was probably used just before the turn of century. Then irrigation ditches we're dug and some of the roads were moved. It's bugging me so I'll keep at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dug D Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 You could try this for old topo that may show something. https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/#10/43.0112/-78.0029 It takes a little work to learn the website, but I have found it really handy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F350Platinum Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 The easiest one is http://historicaerials.com They have many topographic maps and aerial photos. You can overlay current roads, and see where the old ones were. CalTopo has some historical topos and Lidar imagery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatsix Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 digital newspapers for sure, also take a look at street names for example I have a similar situation where I am and sure enough there is a street named Racetrack circle. it's worth a look anyhow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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