carlatm75
8 posts
Jul 09, 2009
6:57 PM
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Does anyone remember the go-kart track that was next to Turpin's Florist on Gettysburg Avenue close to Little Richmnond Road? That was my Uncle Devoe's baby. He loved racing and he built this next to his florist business. I loved it because I could ride for free after hours. But like a lot of things, it started getting dangerous because people would jump in line and not pay and he also got robbed a few times. So he decided to close for safety.
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carlatm75
9 posts
Jul 09, 2009
6:58 PM
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Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that this was in the 60s timeframe.
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tlturbo
118 posts
Jul 10, 2009
4:58 AM
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I remember a go kart track I believe on Linden about 1/4-1/2 mile East of the old Bargain Barn before you got to where Linden crossed under Rt35.
There was also one outside of Fairborn on the highway going to the Medway area near the pay fishing lakes.
Do you remember the old trampoline centers that appeared in the mid to late 50's? They didn't last long after all the liability claims.
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driver62
187 posts
Jul 10, 2009
8:57 AM
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I remember the one on Gettysburg by the flower shop. I drive by there every now and then and you can still see the old track although it's mostly overgrown now.
I didn't move to Dayton until 1972 but I seem to remember it still being open then. But then I can't remember what I had for dinner last night.(lol)
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carlatm75
10 posts
Jul 13, 2009
10:14 AM
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Yea Driver62, that was the one. I wasn't sure of the timeframe because I was young. My aunt and uncle had the flower shop and my uncle opened the go-kart track as a hobby. But like a lot of things on the west side, they got robbed too many times and kids started jumping the fence and riding without paying. So my uncle had to shut it down. They sold the business and retired to Florida in the late 70s.
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driver62
189 posts
Jul 13, 2009
1:02 PM
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The flower shop is still open but the sign out front is just the frame with no name. Not sure if the wind trashed it or one of our fine citizens used it for target practice.
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Mike C
40 posts
Jul 14, 2009
7:08 PM
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I remember both the go-cart tracks on Gettysburg and Linden Ave. The one on Gettysburg had the trampolines next to them. The golf driving range ( Smiley's) there on Linden had then next to it. I remember waiting an hour ( or so it seemed) to jump on those trampolines. The guy that owned the go-cart track on Linden had a skateboard that had a motor on it you could control with a handheld lever. Pretty cool for back in 1970.
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thomas6
9 posts
Jul 16, 2009
8:12 PM
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i remember racing on the downhill somewhere,i was a kid and where i went didn't matter i knew where we were going,anyway,we had soapbox racing,was this the same place
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Marck1957
50 posts
Jul 16, 2009
10:01 PM
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I think that the soap-box derby races were in East Dayton, down the Huffman Street hill. And that was a long, long time ago! Does the mid-1960s sound about right?
Last Edited by on Jul 16, 2009 10:03 PM
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tlturbo
119 posts
Jul 17, 2009
5:06 AM
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If I remember right, in the late 60's, the Soap Box Derby official races were held on the paved hill above the runway over on the base near the Air Force Museum.
I had a go kart when I lived in Beavercreek (racing type went about 60- loud) and we could take it out and run around the housing development for about 30 minuted before the cops showed up. Great thing was we knew all the short cuts between houses to get back to my street & garage and the cops had to stay on the roads. Never did catch us.
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