Fairgo Race Track

In 1924, "America's Most Beautiful Fairground," the Cumberland Fairgrounds was completed at a cost of $250,000. The Fairgrounds was built on a tract of land along the Potomac River south of Cumberland and beneath the towering cliffs of Knobley Mountain. Opening day for the new race track was on October 7, 1924. The track featured horseracing which was a popular attraction at "Fairgo" from the 1920s until the last horse race in September 1961. Local blacks, as well as transients or others who accompanied the race horse owners and trainers, often found employment here during the horseracing season. The following caption accompanied the 1954 newspaper photograph above:

"Here's Nell Keegan - Nell Keegan, two-year old filly owned by William V. Keegan, Cumberland finance commissioner, is shown above with Carroll Griggs, of the J.C. Cremen Stable, at Fairgo, where the Cumberland Fair Association's 10-day race meeting opens Wednesday at 2 p.m. Nell is a daughter of Tandis which won three races at Fairgo in 1947. The two-year-old filly, which made her racing debut at the Pimlico spring meeting, is trained by "Jimmy" Cremen."