History Corner

The Southern Grassland Hunt and Racing Foundation

BY RIDLEY WILLS II

This private hunting park and equestrian sports center was stunning. Prior to this venture in 1929, no private preserve had ever been laid out in the United States.

Grasslands in Sumner County, Tenn., was conceived by a small but wealthy group of foxhunters in the autumn of 1929. Mason Houghland and Rogers Caldwell of Nashville; John M. Branham of Gallatin were three of the founding members. All we rabid foxhunters.

In January of 1929, they invited Joseph B. Thomas, a famous eastern breeder of foxhounds, to Nashville. Impressed with the lay of the land around Nashville, Thomas was especially ecstatic about the farmland that surrounded Branham’s home, Foxland Hall, near Gallatin. He and his local hosts identified 28 square miles of farmland, with Foxland Hall near its center, as a potential sportsman’s park. the land was bordered by the Cumberland River on the south, Woods Ferry PIke on the east, Highway 31-E, a railroad and an electric streetcar line on the north, and Drakes Creek on the west.

The well-watered site with groves of magnificent shade trees seemed perfect for foxhunting, steeplechasing, polo and other outdoor events. Two other like-minded sportsmen of the hunt and chase, Arnold Hanger of Richmond, Ky. and Julius Fleishmann, Jr. of Cincinnati, joined the development group and organized a corporation to acquire the land, and another corporation to operate sporting events. On Oct. 23, 1929, the State of Tennessee issued a charter of incorporation to the Sumner County Land Company, Inc. Thomas, Branham, Caldwell, Fleishmann and Houghland then established the Southern Grasslands Hut and Racing Foundation. Each of the five men put up $10,000 to pay for memberships. Offering premium prices, the local farm owners signed up quickly to sell their land to the Land Company. Soon, the land company controlled 28 square miles of land. Included in the purchase was the historic Fairview Farm, of 600 acres.

In December 1929, the founders distributed a 16-page prospectus in hopes of attracting more members as only about $500,000 had been paid by subscribers. Nevertheless, a house on 31-A was converted into an inn called Race Horse Tavern and out-buildings were constructed and landscaping done. Before fences were put in place, they were dipped in crude oil which gave them a nice yellow color. The work crew in February totaled two hundred men, many of whom were building stables for three hundred horses and kennels for the dogs. In the spring three race courses were laid out. They were located “in a beautiful lowland” easily seen from higher ground. Outsiders, wealthy sportsmen, all multi-millionaires, took memberships but never as many as were needed. A strict dress code was adopted, with members wearing scarlet coats. The hunt staff wore yellow coats with scarlet colors. Although there were lots of gray foxes on the purchased farmland, more red foxes were needed. In the spring, a shipment of red foxes arrived at the L&N station in Gallatin. Charles Carter came on board as the huntsman at Grassmere. With the steeplechase course progressing nicely, the inaugural steeplechase was scheduled for May 19, 1930. On race day, members of grasslands and their guests gathered on the veranda and lawn of Foxland Hall to watch it. The event was hoped to win support from prominent sports people across the country. A Nashville newspaper bragged that the event was “held in a setting never before equalled for color and brilliance in either the social or sporting history of Nashville.”

On a muddy course, Red Gold, owned and ridden by Byron Hilliard of Louisville won the inaugural event. Promotion quickly started for the first International Steeplechase. By November 3, Grasslands had received nine entries and it was hoped that there would be twenty entries before the entry deadline of December 1. Four were English horses, the rest American. By December 1, there were twenty-four entries for the Dec. 6 event, which was a welcome diversion from the Depression, which caused Rogers Caldwell to lose $2 million a day during one week. On Friday night, a Bal Poudre held at Fairview was the social highlight of the weekend. There was also a fox hunt. On Saturday, an unusually cold one, Alligator was first to cross the finish line.

The race was successful in that the course was in a class with Aintree in England. European horses participated in the event, and there was a good attendance. What was not successful was that new member recruiting lagged. The Tennessean reported that the race was successful and that its running in future years was assured. With lagging financial support, the Southern Grasslands Hunt and Racing Foundation restructured itself and persuaded creditors to give the foundation more time to pay its notes. None of this would work, howere, unless they got new members.Prospective members were invited to visit Grasslands. A new category of membership was introduced with significantly smaller initiation fees and annual due of only $15. There were two competing steeplechase events in America in 1931. One was the Prince of Wales Gold Cup Race near Lexington on November 12. It was followed by the Piedmont Hunt Race on Nov. 17 in Upperville, Virginia. The Grassland owners viewed both as prep races for Grasslands. The second Grasslands International Steeplechase was held December 5, 1931 over the most grueling race course in America. Again, as in 1930, the chase was preceded by fox hunting Grasslands. The night before the race, four hundred guests attended a costume ball at Fairview.The women wore wigs and evening gowns while the gentlemen wore formal hunting attire. Until midnight, everyone wore masks. There were also trap shoots and pigeon shoots with national champions competing. Thirteen horses competed in the second international Steeplechase at Grasslands. Glangesis, owned by Richard K. Mellon, won with a time 10 minutes and 14 seconds better than the winning time in 1930. No horses were injured and only two jockeys suffered injuries that required medical treatment. The 1931 race was a great show but the financial results were truly disappointing. Foundation members noticed that about 3,000 of the 10,000 who witnessed the race did so outside the grounds of Grasslands and didn’t pay anything. Despite the monetary problems, President Arnold Hanger announced that the third Grasslands International Steeplechase would be held Dec. 3, 1932.

Despite restructuring the memberships again, this time to attract more Nashvillians to become involved, the problem persisted. John Hay Whitney was asked to purchase the real estate of the Sumner County Land Association and lease it back to Grasslands. This didn’t work and Gallatin merchants filed suit to recover money owed them. In truth, the Grassland Company was insolvent. Frantic efforts by the Grassland owners to survive brought little sympathy from Nashvillians who were suffering from the Depression.

On Oct. 17 and 18, the Grassland trustees sold 62 tracts of property, primarily to previous owners of the land. Many farmers found their land in better shape than when they earlier owned it, with better fencing and gate The brush jumps on the course withered and rotted. The kennels and barns , without maintenance, slowly deteriorated and commercial and residential development resulted in their demolition. Today, the only visual reminder of Grasslands is the original water tower which stands near where the Race Horse Tavern once stood. The great effort to transplant English sports culture to Middle Tennessee lasted 29 months. Grassland’s survival that long was more than a minor achievement.