On opening day,
July 4, 1899, the crowd was estimated at 10,000 people.
The fireworks display would be described in the Evening
Register, as “never before was there such a quantity
of powder burned here.” One can only imagine what
the local roads must have been like to ingest such a
throng of people. The newspaper offered a glimpse of
the scene with this description: “The people got
there in all kinds of ways. They walked, they rode in
their own carriages and in livery vehicles, and they
came by means of trolley cars and busses. From dinner
time to 3 o’clock there was a continual procession
of pedestrians and vehicles winding their way southward
from the center, and South Main Street and the East
Litchfield road have not seen so many people on any
day in years.” The site of the grandstand with
3,000 people dressed in colorful garb must have been
a sight to behold. Up to 7,000 people must have been
crowded into the field level standing room area along
the front fence. Anyone over 12 years of age had to
pay an admission charge. One interesting aspect was
that gambling and drinking were not allowed. This was
a ‘resort” where any man or woman would
not be ashamed to be seen.
Part of the opening day crowd
Photo courtesy
of The Torrington Historical Society
Opening ceremonies included all
the horses from the Murphy & Campbell stables being
driven around the track. These included running horses,
trotters, pacers and even road horses pulling various
types of vehicles. The good Captain led the procession
on his horse. When reaching the viewing stand the procession
stopped and Attorney W.W. Bierce delivered a short speech
and presented Murphy with a flag. The Captain dismounted
his horse and climbed up on the stand with Bierce and
delivered a speech of his own. He said that “his
father, grandfather and great grandfather had all been
soldiers under that flag and that if the call were to
come, he himself would not hesitate a moment to offer
his services.” He added that “the park would
be a place where rich and poor alike would always find
a warm welcome.”
So what in the world happened?
A book, published in 1976 by
the Torrington Historical Society, titled “The
Growth Years” - authored by Bess and Merrill Bailey,
states that after only two weeks of operation, some
local creditors wanted to be paid money owed them. The
Hartford Courant, on August 30, reported that Murphy
had been arrested but did not give the charges. This
was the start of many financial “misunderstandings”
that would plague Murphy for many years to come. In
March of 1901 he was arrested for selling four horses
that he actually didn’t own. Again in 1901 our
own Harwinton Constable, William Jones, had papers made
up and some of Murphy’s property was attached
for lack of payment on a load of hay delivered to the
stables two years earlier. Finally, in November of 1901,
the Hartford Courant reported, “Property belonging
to Captain Murphy has been sold by the deputy sheriff
at the public sign post in Harwinton to satisfy judgment
awarded William S. Jones of that town.” Records
indicate that that buyer was A.H. Wall.
