In roughly 1911, a piece of property was purchased at 7 Mile and Center street in the small community of Northville . . . roughly 40 miles from downtown Detroit. At the time, Northville was a rural community which was home to roughly 1600 residents. It’s original intended purpose was a private 9 hole golf course. A few years later, a group of men, lead by Ed Starkweather (this may be a familiar name if you are familiar with the Plymouth and Northville area) started an Athletic Park where harness racing occurred. The site was later turned into the Wayne County Fairgrounds, the location where Joe Louis trained for his world Championship bout later that year. In 1944 Northville Downs was born.