Hobart's Own Motorcycle Racetrack

The Hobart Motorcycle Club had been organized in the summer of 1919. For its first racing season, its members had to content themselves with racing in other towns, such as Crown Point and Valparaiso ; but they had plans for Hobart.

By the spring of 1920 those plans were coming to fruition. In early May, the club announced that it had secured a lease of several years* on 30 acres owned by Jerry McAuliffe. The News described the leased parcel as "just east of town out Cleveland avenue on the Hobart-Valpo road," so I think we're talking about some part of this land:


(Click on image to enlarge)
This shows land owned by Jerry McAuliffe, and his father, T. McAuliffe, in 1926.

The members of the motorcycle club set about preparing a three-quarter-mile race track. The Powers-Thompson Construction Co., which was then at work paving some of Hobart's streets, allowed the club to use its "router machine," and Lloyd Arnold donated his steam tractor engine. The club planned to hold its first race on May 30.

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*Six years according to the News, while the Gazette says three.

Sources:
♦ 1910 Census.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ 1926 Plat Book.
♦ "First Motorcycle Races To Be Held Here May 30th." Hobart News 6 May 1920.
♦ "Motorcycle Race Track Started." Hobart Gazette 7 May 1920.