Long before there was any fuss and bother about dog racing in Black Hawk County, local citizens were enjoying horse races at the Home Park Race track.

Located in the Home Park (second) addition of Waterloo, horse races were first held at the track in the early summer of 1899. Unfortunately, the track failed to attract sufficient crowds to keep the enterprise profitable, and the owners later chose to break the land up into housing lots.

The track closed before the racing season started in the summer of 1907.

Above is a sketch of the track from the 29 April 1899 edition of the Waterloo Daily Courier.

Selected bibliography:

• "Waterloo's New Driving Park" Waterloo Daily Courier, 29 April 1899.
• "May Have a District Fair" Semi-Weekly Courier, 14 September 1906.
• "To Open Two New Streets" Waterloo Daily Courier, 20 September 1906.
• "80,000 in homes by one Company" Waterloo Reporter, 7 May 1907.
• "To Have Race Track" Waterloo Reporter, 23 June 1908.
• "Home Park Addition Once Race Track; Now Heart of West Side" Waterloo Evening Courier, 7 April 1928, page 13.