page_title: Franklin Park (race track)
section_title: Later use
hierarchical_section_title: Franklin Park (race track) / Later use
caption_attribution_description: Location of the former Franklin Park and Saugus Field.
context_page_description: Franklin Park also known as the Franklin Trotting Park, Franklin Driving Park, Old Saugus Race Course, and the Old Saugus Race Track was an American Harness racing track located in Saugus, Massachusetts.
context_section_description: After it closed, the race track was used to host fairs, field days, picnics, motorcycle races, bonfires, and circuses and the hotel became a private residence. Due to its remote location, Franklin Park was frequently used as a dumping ground.
  In 1911 the property became an airfield and was used by pioneer aviators Harry Atwood, Ruth Bancroft Law, and Lincoln J. Beachey.
  In 1932 the track reopened as an auto racing facility. It closed the following year.
  After Massachusetts legalized pari-mutuel wagering in 1934, a group of area businessmen and government officials led by Henry A. B. Peckham, John J. Mullen, Charles Friend, Harold Dodge, Frederick Willis, William Landergan, and James E. McElroy attempted to bring horse racing back to the site. Mullen even arranged a meeting with his friend Governor Joseph B. Ely in an attempt to get his assistance. Ely refused to express any opinion on the matter and stated that the matter was for the Racing Commission to decide.
  In 1940, property owner Godfrey Lowell Cabot offered the site to the United States Navy for use as the location of its main New England dirigible base. In 1948 he donated the land to Northeastern University. In 1950 a proposal was made to construct a $5 million gasoline storage plant on the site.
  In 1970 developer George W. Page and property owner Martin DeMatteo presented the Board of Selectmen with a plan to build a 60,000 seat stadium on the property. The plan was opposed by conservationists who objected to building a stadium on Rumney Marsh. It was abandoned when the Boston Patriots chose Foxborough, Massachusetts as the location of their new stadium.
  Since 1990, the property has been owned by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (formerly the Metropolitan District Commission).
caption: Location of Franklin Park in 2013
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