Sulphur Springs Dog Track
Grandstand and track of Sulphur Springs Dog Track, 1935. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System
Grandstands and track of the Tampa Greyhound Track, Tampa, FL, 2020. © Chip Weiner
The Sulphur Springs Dog Track, built at a cost of $80,000 to seat 1800 to 1900 race fans, opened on January 31, 1933. At its pinnacle, the quarter-mile oval track housed over 400 greyhounds per 60-night season with crowds upwards of 5,000 people. It featured typical track races and introduced feature events, including dog hurdles. The track was not without some controversy. For example, in 1939, a 4-year racing veteran dog named Hi Honey failed to leave her box at the start of the race, bringing some to level charges that racing was fixed. By the 1950s, the track was known as the Tampa Greyhound Track at Sulphur Springs and hosted up to 700 dogs. By the mid-1960s, it was up to 1000 kenneled dogs.
Overgrowth has taken over in front of the grandstands where a meticulously groomed race track once stood. The track has not hosted live greyhound races since 2007. In 2015 Tampa Bay Downs, owners of the area’s Thoroughbred horse racing facility, purchased the property and the parimutuel permit for $9.5 million and have kept one of the buildings open for poker and simulcast betting. The last race in 2007 perhaps foretold what was to come of greyhound racing in Florida. In 2018 voters amended the Florida constitution to end gambling on greyhound racing as of Dec. 31, 2020.
From Burgert Brothers: Look Again Vol. 2
Open-air grandstand, side view, and slope to track, Sulphur Springs Dog Tracks. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System
Aerial view of Sulphur Springs Dog Track and park area, looking north along Nebraska Avenue. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System
Side view of the Tampa Greyhound Track grandstand 2021. © Chip Weiner
Crowd watching dogs race at Sulphur Springs Dog Track. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System
Racing dogs and accompanying grooms posed on track at Sulphur Springs Dog Track. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System
Tampa Greyhound Track Poker Room 2022. © Chip Weiner