Horse racing at the Allegany County Fairgrounds used to be a staple of summer, but one Cumberland mayor didn’t believe it should be a holiday, especially when it was the city that tended to get the holiday present rather than the employees. Sure, employees got a half day off, but it wasn’t expected to be free.
The Allegany County Fairgrounds opened along the Potomac River beneath Knobley Mountain in 1924. It was planned with horse racing in mind. The site included a half-mile oval track, grandstand, clubhouse, jockey house, paddock and plenty of horse stalls.
It came to be known as the Fairgo Race Track and was considered one of the most beautiful and well-equipped horse tracks in the region. It was also part of Maryland’s horse racing circuit.
The B&O Railroad brought the horses and equipment into Western Maryland in those early days. The races were usually held for two weeks at the same time as the Cumberland Fair, which only added to the number of visitors.
The races were popular, too. Some race days attracted as many as 25,000 visitors from three states.
It helped that the fairgrounds management created special events, such as “Governor’s Day,” which brought many of Maryland’s governors to Western Maryland for a visit.
One of those special days was “Cumberland Day.” By the late 1940s, it had become a tradition as the Cumberland Mayor and City Council voted to make Cumberland Day a half-day holiday in the city.
But traditions can be broken, or at least an attempt can be made to break them.
The proclamation came before the mayor and council on June 14, 1950. However, Mayor Thomas S. Post objected to what should have been routine.
Cumberland’s mayor since 1944, Post said he had never been in favor of a half-holiday to “have our employees to go out and spend their money like that,” according to the Cumberland Evening Times.
The newspaper noted that it wasn’t clear whether Post was speaking about employees on the city payroll or employees of city businesses. What was clear was that the mayor wasn’t comfortable creating a holiday that would benefit one business (the fairgrounds) over other city businesses, even if the Chamber of Commerce supported it.
Finance Commissioner William H. Buchholtz pointed out that the city derived a lot of money from state race track receipts. Post said that only made his point. The city was creating a holiday to benefit off the backs of its employees. He felt that given the city’s economic condition at the time, it was not a good time to do this.
The council disagreed and voted 4-1, with Post the lone “no” vote, to proclaim Wednesday, June 21, as Cumberland Day at Fairgo. It was a date selected by the Mercantile Bureau of the Chamber of Commerce for city offices and most businesses to close at noon to allow workers to attend the horse races and Cumberland Fair.
Fairgo offered eight races a day, with total purses of $39,000 (about $540,000 in 2026 dollars) distributed among the horsemen.