From the Rock to the Grand

On June 28, 1906, a Thoroughbred meet opened on Kimball and Woodbury farmland near the Salem depot, at a track billed as the first in New England. The state's gambling ban shut it within days. The Rock's great era began in 1931, when Lou Smith and Sam Simon bought it. Smith pushed for pari-mutuel betting, and in 1933 it became the first in New England.

Packed trains came up from Boston. Seabiscuit raced here in 1935 and 1936. From the 1930s to the 1960s, the track's revenue averaged about a fifth of the state's general-fund budget. For the rest of the town’s story, see our Salem, NH history and timeline.

• 1906Opens June 28 with a 21-day meet
• 1917Camp Rockingham: more than 1,200 Army engineers train for France
• 1933Pari-mutuel betting, a first for New England
• 1935Seabiscuit runs at Rockingham, and again in 1936
• 1980Fire destroys the grandstand; the track reopens in 1984
• 2016Closes August 31, after 110 years
• 2017Demolished; Tuscan Village rises on the site

The Rockingham Grand

The name lives on. Churchill Downs, the company behind the Kentucky Derby, is putting $180–200 million into the former Lord & Taylor building at the Mall at Rockingham Park. The Rockingham Grand is set to open in mid-2027 with about 825 historical racing machines, 32 table games, sports betting, a 900-seat entertainment venue, a center bar and a sports bar and restaurant, on three floors and 160,000 square feet.

rockinghamgrand.com · Guests must be 21 or older. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.