Shortly following the turn of the last century, several wealthy men from Bridgeport met at the Algonquin Club where they sipped whiskey and enjoyed their cigars with each of them extolling the virtues of his latest acquisition – a new form of transportation – the motorcar. And high on the list of those virtues was the speed at which one could reach his destination.
They soon formed the Automobile Club of Bridgeport. Early automobile clubs were by then sponsoring events that showcased the automobile’s ability to travel long distances or impress the public with their speed. Endurance runs were held to prove reliability, while hill climbs were the preferred method of speed competition.
By the spring of 1902, members of the Bridgeport club were eager to pit their driving skills and the speed of their automobiles against each other. They agreed that a hill climb would provide the best test, but the question was where.
The Sport Hill section of the Jackson Highway in nearby Easton was a formidable piece of highway that clung to the side of a rocky cliffside to the west. It was steep, surfaced largely with dirt and rocks, and presented somewhat of a challenge to teamsters passing in opposite directions on some of the narrowest and sharpest turns.
In total, there were barely more than a dozen houses along that section of Jackson Highway between the Fairfield town line and Flat Rock Road in Easton. The only intersection along that stretch of highway was Delaware Road, there were no other side streets. The state hadn’t yet begun to issue license plates for motor cars – there were barely enough to count, and in a town as small as Easton, there wasn’t a single resident who owned an automobile in 1902. With no established motor vehicle laws on the books and no police presence in Easton, it is doubtful that the club even notified the town that they planned to race on the hill that year.
On Memorial Day morning, 1902, seven different owners showed up at the base of Sport Hill with a total of eight automobiles. DeVer Howard Warner was the secretary/treasurer and the son of founder Doctor Ira DeVer Warner of the Warner Brothers Company, a manufacturer of corsets in Bridgeport. Lewis B. Curtis was the vice president and treasurer of Curtis & Curtis, a manufacturer of pipe cutting machinery on Railroad Avenue. Jesse Banks Cornwall was the president of Cornwall & Peterson, a manufacturer of piano and organ hardware on Fairfield Avenue. Ernest V. Sloan and Herbert A. Budlong were the head engineer and plant manager of the American Graphophone Company. Jonathon Godfrey was the owner of the Compressed Paper Box Company and Miles V. Doud headed the sales department at Locomobile, the Bridgeport based manufacturer of three of the motor cars that were entered that day.
Curtis and Warner entered their Cleveland built gasoline engine Wintons. Godfrey raced his Peerless, also a product of Cleveland. Budlong’s gasoline powered Columbia had been built in Hartford. Doud drove two of his company’s Locomobile steamers, while Sloan competed with a third steamer from the same manufacturer. The lone foreign entry was a gasoline powered de Dion Boughton built in France and piloted by Jesse B. Cornwall.
The steam cars proved to be far quicker than the gasoline powered machines. The fastest machine of the day was piloted by Sloan, a mechanical engineer by profession, who got his Locomobile to the finish line in 2:45, for an average speed of 22 mph! Not at all a blistering speed by modern standards, but it was certainly impressive for a steep uphill incline with tight turns and a rough surface – especially when one considers that the vehicle was steered by using a tiller!
An article published in the October 11, 1902, edition of Automobile Topics confirms both the inaugural date and the list of participants. It is doubtful that the event was even reported in the local press – the automobile was such a novelty that few people would have even cared.
It is not known if the club recreated the hill climb during the years immediately following the initial run, but in 1906, they ran a similar event in the late summer at Sport Hill, and beginning on Memorial Day of 1907, the Sport Hill event in Easton began a four year run that saw it grow into one of the three largest and best attended hill climbs in the country. The 1909 races reportedly were attended by over 10,000 people, although reported numbers of that era were often exaggerated.
A number of factors led to the rapid demise of hill climbs and organized street racing. But safety was likely the number one issue; spectators often lined the course, gathering within feet, or even inches, of the racing surface. Any vehicle that went off course was sure to create mayhem – perhaps even death. The 1909 Sport Hill event saw a horrific crash that injured dozens, a few quite seriously.
The final blow likely came with the introduction of closed race courses. Spectators could be safely contained; ordinary traffic was no longer interrupted while automobiles competed against each other; side-by-side racing became a reality, while more dangerous for the competitors, it was certainly more exciting to watch; and perhaps most importantly, the organizers could charge admission and make a profit.
Starting off on Saturday, May 17th, the Staples Academy Foundation will host a preview event at the Old Staples Academy building at 336 Center Road between Noon and 3:00 PM. It will showcase a limited number of Brass Era motorcars –including a beautiful, fully restored 1914 Mercer 450 race car. Attendees can enjoy some barbeque, with libations available from the Two Roads Brewing Company. Entry to this event is free to the public, but parking is extremely limited, so get there early!
On Saturday, May 24th, between the hours of 10:00 AM and 2:30 PM in the parking lot of the Easton Town Library at 691 Morehouse Road, the Fairfield County Horseless Carriage Club of America in conjunction with the Town of Easton will celebrate the history of the Sport Hill Races. The club will stage a small antique motorcar exhibition highlighting several Brass Era (pre-1916) vehicles including a factory built Locomobile race car – one of only two ever produced as company sponsored competition racers.! Three short demonstrations of speed on Morehouse Road between the Library and the top of the hill are scheduled. Motorcar historian Alex Dragone and Sport Hill Race historian Bruce Nelson will be on hand to talk about the significance of the vehicles and the original hill climb on Sport Hill Road. This event is also free to the public and parking is available at the old Samuel Staples School building at 654-660 Morehouse Road. The Simply Smashed Burgers & More food truck will be on site for those who wish to purchase lunch. Due to the noise produced by some of the older motorcars, we kindly request that you leave your canine companions at home.
This will be a weather dependent event – so pray that the sun gods are fans of history and 100-plus-year-old motorcars! In the event of inclement weather, notice of cancelation will be posted on the Facebook page of the Historical Society of Easton @ https://www.facebook.com/historicalsocietyofeastonct/
Our sponsors include the Historical Society of Easton and the Staples Academy Foundation. Both are non-profit, 501(c)(3) organizations that are funded only by the generosity of the community – so won’t you consider supporting either or both entities? For the historical society, our donation page is: https://historicalsocietyofeastonct.org/membership-and-donations/ and for the Staples Academy Foundation, it is: https://www.paypal.com/US/fundraiser/charity/5414621. It is only through your generosity that we can continue to present programs such as these that benefit the entire community.
A special thanks go out to Greiser’s Coffee and Market (everyone’s favorite gathering place for coffee and good conversation) for supplying the organizers and exhibitors with some early morning sustenance!
