Hialeah Park

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The Hialeah Park Racetrack, on East 4th Avenue in Hialeah, Florida is one of the oldest existing recreational facilities in southern Florida. Originally opened in 1921 by the famous aviatoion pioneer Glenn Curtiss and his partner James Bright, in 1925 the Miami Jockey Club launched Hialeah's race track on January 25, 1925. The facility was severely damaged by a 1926 hurricane and in 1930 was sold to the wealthy Philadelphia horseman Joseph E. Widener. He hired architect Lester W. Geisler to design a complete new grandstand and Renaissance Revival clubhouse facilities along with landscaped gardens of native flora and fauna and a lake in the infield that Widener stocked with flamingos. Hailed as one of the most beautiful racetracks in the world, Hialeah Park officially opened on January 14, 1932. It became so famous for its flocks of flamingos that it has been officially designated a sanctuary for the American Flamingo by the Audubon Society.

Among the races the track hosted was the appropriately named Flamingo Stakes, an important stepping stone to the Kentucky Derby for 3-year-old horses, and the once prestigious Widener Handicap, a major race for horses four years and older that was the East Coast counterpart to the Santa Anita Handicap in California.

Hialeah Park Racetrack was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 2, 1979. On January 12, 1988, the property was determined eligible for designation as a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior. Owner John Brunetti closed Hialeah Park to the public in 2001. Its facilities remain intact. The filly Cheeky Miss won the last race ever run at Hialeah on May 22, 2001.