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Nearly 90 years before horse racing became a staple in Plains Township in 1965, many residents from the Wyoming Valley and across Northeastern Pennsylvania were entertained by horse racing at Lee Driving Park in Hanover Township.
				Lee Driving Park was operated by the Lee Park Association, which was incorporated in 1871 to provide a park to host agricultural fairs, public meetings, riding, driving and amusements. The track, which also later doubled as a baseball diamond, was where Kentucky Fried Chicken and the Crossroads are located today.
				Daniel Harkins, a florist and fruit tree farmer in Buttonwood, Hanover Township, planned the horse track and solicited nearly 30 investors who became shareholders in the Lee Park Association.
				&ldquo;The property was owned at the time by Washington Lee Jr., who took the matter under advisement and later on the association was formed and the property was sold by Washington Lee and wife to what was then known as the Lee Park Association, signed the deeds and transferred it to the association on Dec. 26, 1871,&rdquo; the Wilkes-Barre Record newspaper reported Jan. 8, 1902.
				The Lee Park section would be named after Washington Lee Jr.
				&ldquo;The course is one of the best made tracks in the country. An excellent, new and commodious hotel has just been completed by the Lee Park Association, adjoining the park, thus leaving nothing undone that could be asked for the most fastidious,&rdquo; stated an advertisement of the park published in the Luzerne Union newspaper on Aug. 23, 1871.
				Lee Park Hotel was located on Lee Park Avenue.
				Races were held several days during the week with purses as high as $800 in each race.
				Between races, bands would entertain large crowds that gathered.
				&ldquo;About four thousand people were assembled at Lee Park yesterday afternoon, to witness the closing races of the association. The weather was excessively warm and the large and small stands were eagerly sought after the former for the shade and the latter on account of the refreshing beverages there dispensed,&rdquo; the Daily Record of the Times newspaper reported Aug. 22, 1871.
				With the success of the race track, stables were constructed for those who did not have accommodations at their homes to keep their horses.
				&ldquo;Good table board, lunches to order, and the best stocked bar in the county. Horses taken by the day, week or month, trained and handled by competent horsemen. Plenty of feed on hand at all times,&rdquo; an advertisement read as published in the Wilkes-Barre Record on Aug. 4, 1887.
				The track also hosted bicycle races and a firing range.
				A crowd estimated to be more than 4,000 gathered at the track to witness Buffalo Bill&rsquo;s Wild, Wild West show on Sept. 11, 1884. After a rodeo and other entertainment, &ldquo;Buffalo Bill then took his rifle and on horseback at full gallop discharged his rifle hitting moving targets, missing just one,&rdquo; the Wilkes-Barre Record reported Sept. 12, 1884.
				&ldquo;Twenty-one trotting horses are now stabled at Lee Park and are being exercised daily. There is some good trotting to be seen every morning on the track from 7 to 10 o&rsquo;clock and not infrequently there is quite a crowd of spectators,&rdquo; the Record reported Aug. 22, 1887.
				Attendance at the track began to dwindle in the late 1880s with races being corrupted with faster horses registered under different names in multiple races. At the same time, the hotel became known as a &ldquo;rough house,&rdquo; with financial mismanagement, gambling, disorderly drunks and prostitution.
				&ldquo;When dark horses are let in and carry off the prizes under wrong names, it is time to say a word,&rdquo; the Record reported Oct. 23, 1886.
				Lee Driving Park was sold to a group of new investors led by P. Macbeth Gilligan in 1886. With no experience in operating a horse track and hotel, Lee Driving Park was abandoned in the early 1890s.
				&ldquo;None of these gentlemen had any hand in the management of the races and the public well understood that they are not responsible for any of the crooked business that came up,&rdquo; the Record reported.
				Gilligan would sell the land to Jesse T. Morgan and William P. Morgan, who divided the area into lots for businesses and houses, the Record reported Jan. 8, 1902.
				Lee Park Hotel was destroyed by a fire on Oct. 10, 1998.

Look Back: Lee Driving Park attracted crowds in Hanover Township