The grand opening event of the Goodwater Grove Track is scheduled to be nothing less than the 1892 State Championship meet. This happened in a roundabout manner. The meet was originally scheduled for the Sacramento Agricultural Park Horse Track but there was a scheduling conflict at that venue with the circus.
As stated in The Bearings, May 20, 1892 article, previous races at Stockton's Banner Island Track have been financially successful and they expect Goodwater Grove Track events to follow suit.
The Sacramento Daily Union, June 17, 1892 article below describes in greater detail some of the inter-club politics surrounding the relocation of the 1892 Division meet. There would actually end up being two meets on July 4th in northern California in 1892. The Alameda Bicycle and Athletic Club would also hold a meet at their recently opened Alameda Track.
​
The second article, San Francisco Call, July 4, 1892, provides a pre-race summary and publicity of both events.
This is another article describing both of the July 4th, 1892 races, from the Sacramento Daily Union, July 5, 1892.
​
The results and descriptions of these races were published in a number of Northern California newspapers.
This article by the San Francisco Call, July 5, 1892, was published the day after the July 4th races and addresses the race at Goodwater Grove Track as well the Alameda Track race.
In December of 1892 The Referee contains a very extensive article summarizing the year of bicycle racing in California, which in 1892 meant mostly northern California. The article touches on the leadership of the racing organization, the race tracks, races and some of the racers.
​
It states "The season '92 should go on record as the renaissance period of the past time of cycling on the Pacific Coast."
​
As far as the bicycle tracks "In northern California we have had eight race meets and they have been uniformly successful. On the Alameda Track, which was the first built with banked corners and up to date in every particular, three of these meets were held, San Jose held two, Stockton two, and Sacramento one."
​
The Alameda Bicycle and Athletic Cub get special attention "The Alameda Bicycle and Athletic Club has done much for the sport during the past year."
​
The article is from The Referee, December 23, 1892.
​
Note, it's a large two-page article, click on the link or the image to read it in a viewer.
On June 11th of 1892, Frank Waller set the 24 hour world record at the Alameda Track when he rode 374 miles. Unfortunately for Waller, his record would be broken twice that summer. The second time his record was broken was by F. W. Shorland on July 22 at Herne Hill in London when he rode 415 miles. The Bearings, July 23, 1892 article describes Shorland's ride and summarizes the 24 hour record rides in 1892.
​
Waller would attempt to retake the 24 hour world record on the Goodwater Grover Track on September 16 as described in the brief Stockton Mail, August 18, 1892 and The Referee, August 12, 1892 articles.
​
The Referee, September 17, 1892 article indicates Waller crashed out of his September 17 record attempt.
​
Note in the last article the name George W. Waller is specified, not Frank Waller. George W. Waller was a famous endurance racer from England. It's likely just a name mix up since all the previous articles and context points to the racer at Stockton being Frank Waller.
​
In the The Bearings, December 14, 1892 there is a year-end summary of cycling in each state. In the summary about cycling in California, it lays out the timeline of five new tracks built in the state during 1892: Alameda, Goodwater Grove, Riverside, Los Angeles and San Jose. This provides a wider context portraying the popularity of track cycling in California. Other state summaries are similar, indicating how popular track cycling is throughout the country.
1894
There was no information to be found about the Goodwater Grove Track in 1893. In late May of 1894 it appears the track hosted many successful record attempts. The Bearings, May 26, 1894 article indicates R. L. Long of San Francisco set a record for the "standing eighth".
​
The Stockton Daily Union, May 30, 1894 piece describes the same day of racing in more detail.
​
Unfortunately for R. L. Long, his "standing eighth" world record was broken three weeks later on the San Jose Agricultural Park Velodrome, see The Bearings, June 16, 1894 article.
The Goodwater Grove Track hosted a successful meet on July 4th, 1894 with "boats chartered for the occasion by the Bay City Wheelmen and Olympic Club."
1896
No information about 1895 as well.
​
The Referee, March 8, 1896 has a very comprehensive article titled "Race Tracks of California" written by Charles Fuller Gates. The article compares the nuances of all the California tracks, as well as the towns and clubs associated with each track.
​
The article is very long. The piece included below is a snippet that addresses the Goodwater Grove Track. If you want to read the full article click on any of the links. Note, when reading the full article, the two pages are separated by a full-page advertisement.
​
It's interesting to note in the paragraph about Goodwater Grove it is referred to as "the half mile Sweetwater track at Stockton". There is also high praise for the city of Stockton "Stockton is a delightful town and after the March rains of North California are over is far superior to Santa Monica and some of the other track towns that have been over praised."
Another article providing publicity for the upcoming Admission Day races in Stockton and San Jose out of San Francisco in The Referee, September 4, 1896. Again, the San Jose race is highlighted as the more premier event of the two. Additionally, there is discussion of a "western circuit, to begin after the national circuit ends."
​
The Stockton Mail, September 9, 1896 article is about the Goodwater Grove Admission Day race but the racing was not completed in time to meet the newspaper's deadline, so it only provides the officials and start lists for the day's race.
The big event for the Goodwater Grove Track in 1896 would be the Admission Day race. Note, there will also be an Admission Day race at the San Jose Agricultural Park Velodrome and possibly Santa Rosa. The San Jose Velodrome seems to be gaining recognition as a very fast track, plus it has the advantage of being in a larger population center.
​
The three articles below are from a variety of newspapers, showing the multiple sources of pre-race publicity used at the time.
1897
There does not appear to be much race activity at the Goodwater Grove Track in 1897. These are two miscellaneous articles.
​
The Stockton Record, February 3, 1897 article indicates that Goodwater Grover Park was "closed for a long period" but will be reopening after being "remodelled beyond recognition". It's unclear the impact on the track.
​
The second article from The Referee, February 4, 1897 is further discussion about the "Winter Circuit". Of note is the list of tracks included in the circuit: San Jose, Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, Dixon, Woodland, Chico, Sacramento, Stockton and Fresno are listed. San Francisco is implied to be included in the circuit. Then it is stated "At all of these towns there are good tracks and the prospects for a successful circuit are very bright."
Lastly for 1896, there is a short summary of the September 9th races in The Referee, September 11, 1896. The second part of the article is about the race at the Goodwater Grove Track.
1898
With dwindling bicycle racing activity in recent years the state of racing at the Goodwater Grove is not as clear as earlier. There appear to be a series of meets scheduled for late August and into September according to the San Francisco Call, July 16, 1898 article. Yet, the Stockton Mail, August 12, 1898 article is the only race summary to be found for that time period, and it is the last bicycle race information available. Note, this article describes and event including both bicycle races and a running race, "fifty-yard dash".
​
Going forward, it seems the main activities to take place at Goodwater Grove Park are baseball and Coursing of dogs. It's interesting to note that baseball in Stockton relocated from Banner Island to Goodwater Grove Park at the same time as bicycle racing. In the future, baseball would return to Banner Island and is there to this day, see Banner Island Track location section for details.
​
Perhaps the rise of the velodromes in San Francisco and San Jose, with their improved racing surfaces, contributed to the shuttering of bicycle racing at Goodwater Grove.
Location
The Library of Congress has an illustrated map of 1895 Stockton, the first image below. On the far left side, in the red box, is the location of the Goodwater Grove Park and the track within.
The second image zooms in on this area (the red box) and shows the track and grandstand.
​
The last image, courtesy of the David Rumsey Map Collection, confirms the location of the Goodwater Grove area in an 1897 map.
CHECKLIST:
-
mention that there are NO PICS of this track. two illustrations though??
-
make sure to doc the track specs in para, someplace.
-
make sure to Note where other tracks are mentioned for CONTEXT!
-
review each writeup and the archive item to make sure the details of the archive item are touched upon in the writeup
-
review to make sure the Links are ALL GOOD!
-
review to trim pics if necessary.
-
HIDE this section.
Below is a current Google Map of the area surrounding (37.984058, -121.292750) Oak Park (was Goodwater Grove Park) in Stockton.
Current Google Map of the Oak Park area of Stockton
1892-98 | Goodwater Grove Track | Stockton
Page last updated May 10, 2026.
​
In 1892 the Stockton Electric Railroad Company built the Goodwater Grove Park at the end of one of their streetcar lines in order to generate ridership. As stated in The Bearings, May 20, 1892 article the park would include "a very good half-mile track for the wheelmen."
​
The opening of the Goodwater Grove Track would spell the end of Stockton's existing Banner Island Track, which was on the baseball grounds at Banner Island. The San Francisco Call, June 20, 1892 article below describes the rise of the Goodwater Grove Track.
​
From the two articles the dimensions of the track are:
-
half mile track
-
35 feet wide
-
turn one is banked 3.5 feet
-
turn two is banked 5 feet