By Spencer Bowman, Northwest Room Librarian
From 1912 to 1922, Tacoma was home to a racetrack once considered among the best in the country. During those ten years, famous drivers such as “Terrible Tedy” Tetzlof, R.C. "Cliff" Durant, Roscoe Sarles, and the Chevrolet brothers—Gaston and Louis (yes, that Chevrolet)—raced high-powered, open-wheeled cars at speeds exceeding 80 mph. Many of these drivers also competed in the early Indianapolis 500 races. The library’s collection of Marvin Boland Speedway photographs captures the drivers, the crowds, and the excitement surrounding what was then a thrilling new craze: auto racing.
The story of the Tacoma Speedway begins with the city’s five-day annual Montamara Festo (the Mountain-Sea Festival) which debuted in 1911. This week-long celebration, held mostly in the Stadium Bowl, featured a vibrant array of events. According to a Tacoma Daily Ledger article, the festivities included numerous marching bands and themed parades, such as an industrial parade and a “Parade of All Nations,” which showcased twelve historical world nations with costumed marchers dressed in medieval attire representing each country. After dark, the celebration continued with an illuminated Japanese lantern parade, culminating in what was described as “the greatest and most costly” pyrotechnic display. On the third day of the festival, a variety of auto races were held. Events included a hill climb contest for auto trucks, an “auto run” hosted by the Tacoma Automobile Club, a dramatic high-speed head-on collision between two cars, and speed contests on a rough prairie. That prairie, where the races took place, is approximately located today just south of the Mountain View Funeral Home & Cemetery on Steilacoom Boulevard, near Lakeview Avenue.
In 1912, the Tacoma Speedway Association took over the racing events and constructed a five-mile dirt track. That year, 24,000 fans packed the Speedway to watch top-tier racing stars compete. Following the success of the 1912 races, the track was redesigned and shortened to a three-mile course.
At the time, there were only two other major speedways on the Pacific Coast: Los Angeles’ “pie plate” motordrome and Oakland’s “Saucer” speedway. Racetracks of this era were quite different from what we’re familiar with today. It was customary for speedways to span only a few miles and feature wooden tracks with steeply banked curves.
In 1914, $100,000 was invested to upgrade Tacoma’s speedway in order to compete with its West Coast counterparts. The track was shortened again to a two-mile course with graded and banked curves, rising 18 feet higher on the outside than the inside. The entire surface was covered with 2x4s laid on their edge, with sand filling the gaps between the boards to create a smoother racing surface. Another major update was the installation of electronic timing equipment, which remained in use until the 1922 racing season. In the years that followed, crowds swelled to 40,000, and the races began attracting big-name drivers to the Pacific Northwest for the first time. It was during this heyday that photographer Marvin Boland captured striking images of the racers and the excitement at the Tacoma Speedway.
By the early 1920s, however, public enthusiasm for auto racing in Tacoma began to fade. Attendance steadily declined, and in 1922, the final race was held, marking the end of an era as the checkered flag waved for the last time and the speedway was permanently closed.
We invite you to explore these remarkable images that capture the short-lived era when Tacoma stood as the West Coast’s premier auto racing destination. If you're interested in learning more about the history of the Tacoma Speedway, feel free to reach out. We have a variety of research materials available to support your curiosity.
Sources:
- “Splendid Features for Montamara Festo”, Tacoma Daily Ledger 6/23/1912 p.31
- “Montamara Festo Program is Out”, Tacoma Daily Ledger 3/7/1913 p.3
- “Noted Drivers Vied on Local Speedway” by James Burkey Jr., Tacoma News Tribune, 6/28/1964 p.67
- “New Auto Club Plans Speedway,” Tacoma Daily Ledger 11/29/1911p.9
