The Lincolnwood, Illinois Motor Speedway (1932-1936)

The Lincolnwood Motor Speedway was also known as Evanston Motor Speedway, Tessville Motor Speedway, and the Chicago Midget Speedway. Prior to 1936, Lincolnwood was known as Tessville.

The track was located in what is now Lincolnwood. The race track property was bordered by Touhy Avenue to the north, by Pratt Avenue to the south, by railroad tracks to the northwest, and by McCormick Boulevard / North Shore Channel to the east.

Tet Tetterton driving car #3.

Various computer aerial images show the track located north of Pratt Ave. with the entrance to the speedway roughly at Pratt and St. Louis Avenues. The actual track ran east and west and was bordered by today's Central Park Avenue on the west and Christiana Avenue on the east with the main straightway north of the current street, Northeast Parkway.

Some early newspaper stories, ads, and race programs said the location was at Lincoln and Devon Avenues and McCormick Boulevard.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Novelty Golf and Games in Lincolnwood, Illinois.

Founded in 1949, Novelty Golf at 3650 West Devon Avenue in Lincolnwood, is still operating, hosting two-18 hole miniature golf courses. 

1980s Novelty Golf TV Commercial

I lived about 2 miles from Novelty Golf and my friends and I would play either one of the courses often. The 19th hole was actually a golf ball return, in a one-hole pinball style game. From the hundreds of golf games I played, I won a free game only one time. 

The ball return game is partially seen in the bottom left of this picture.

We'd spend almost all of our money in the game room. It was lit perfectly for a game room, with dim, indirect lighting. The "L" shaped room helped to keep the game noise down.

They had all the newest games, Asteroids, Space Invaders, Pac Man, Missile Command, Centipede, and a few Pinball machines. Later came more great games like Pole Position, Zaxxon, and Dragon's Lair which was the first arcade game to use cartoon footage.

Dragon's Lair Arcade Game - Full Play

Want to try Dragon's Lair? Click to download the Android game from Google Play. It is the original. What was your favorite arcade game? 

After we were done, it was off to the Bunny Hutch, which is next door and shares a parking lot, for a Hot Dog and fries.

By Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.