Devonshire Downs, sometimes informally called The Downs, was a

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

track and multipurpose event facility in

Northridge, California Northridge is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles. The community is home to California State University, Northridge, and the Northridge Fashion Center. Originally named List of minor biblica ...

. It was located at the southwest corner of Devonshire Street and Zelzah Avenue, east of

Reseda Boulevard Reseda Boulevard, named Reseda Avenue until May 1929, is a major north–south arterial road that runs through the western San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Route Reseda Boulevard runs approximately from the Santa Monica ...

. The site is now owned by the

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...

(CSUN), which renamed it North Campus, and leased in part to

Medtronic Medtronic plc is an American-Irish medical device company. The company's legal and executive headquarters are in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, while its operational headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Medtronic rebased to I ...

MiniMed.

1940s

In 1943, Helen Dillman and Pete Spears purchased 40 acres for $80,000 with plans to construct a

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia ...

track, but a wartime construction moratorium temporarily put the project on hold. Weekly Sunday afternoon harness races, called matinees, began in 1946. The State of California bought the property for $140,000 in 1948, at which time it also became the home of the 51st District Agricultural Association's annual San Fernando Valley Fair.

1950s

During the 1950s, as the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

's population boomed and

tract housing Tract housing, sometimes informally known as cookie cutter housing, is a type of housing development in which multiple similar houses are built on a tract (area) of land that is subdivided into smaller lots. Tract housing developments are found ...

rapidly replaced Northridge's citrus groves and small ranches, the venue increasingly served to host a wide variety of mostly non-equestrian expositions, festivals, carnivals, concerts, swap meets, rallies and other events. These alternative uses eventually predominated. A new California State College campus was built on adjacent land and opened in 1958 as San Fernando Valley State College, which soon became the owner of Devonshire Downs.

1960s

During the 1960s, poor track maintenance and declining interest in the sport led to the end of horse racing at the facility. The last race horse was removed in 1971. In the same year, the college, which became California State University, Northridge (CSUN) in 1972, built a football stadium on some of the acreage. Other parts of the property continued to be put to diverse uses. During the first half of the 1980s, Devonshire Downs was the venue for numerous

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

rock shows. Devonshire Downs is most widely known for hosting the three-day Newport Pop Festival in June 1969, also known as Newport '69, featuring Jethro Tull,

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances featuring expressive body movements. Most of his best-known singles, such as "Feelin' Alright ...

and nearly thirty other top acts. With over 200,000 people attending the festival over three days, it was, by far, the largest music event in the United States up to that time. News reports at the time indicated that hundreds were injured in a melee during the festival, and 200 police officers were deployed to restore order.

1970s

While the San Fernando Valley Fair utilized Devonshire Downs as its venue as early as the 1950s, the fair hit its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, finally moving away from Northridge in the late 1980s. Political pressures pushed to sell the property, starting in the early 1960s and continuing into the mid-1970s, but CSUN maintained ownership throughout this time period and beyond.

Later years

In 2001, the football stadium and practically everything else was razed and most of the land was leased out for development as a private industrial park, with part of the area taken over by

MiniMed. CSUN also developed part of the property for housing needs related to the University.

References

{{reflist American football venues in Los Angeles Defunct college football venues Defunct horse racing venues in California Demolished sports venues in California Cal State Northridge Matadors football Sports venues in Los Angeles College football venues in California