Photo: A Day at the Races – 1908

The La Plata County Fairgrounds was the primary venue for horse racing in the county from its opening near the turn of the last century. In 1999, the county removed the large grandstands, race track, rodeo grounds and the horse stalls along Main Avenue. The rodeo arena was moved nearby and the county redeveloped the site with baseball fields and the Durango Community Recreation Center taking up much of the new setting. Here, a well-attended race is witnessed by spectators during a time when horses still provided the main means of transportation for the region.<br><br>Ed Horvat for Animas Museum, edhorvat@animasmuseum.org