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Hamburg Place (Iroquois Hunt Club Polo Fields)

Site ID: FA-1441

Between 1925-1949
Agricultural; Art Deco
Fayette
Palmer Engineering
Unless specified, we cannot provide site location information.

Summary

​​​​​Consultants working with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet worked to survey the Hamburg Place/Iroquois Hunt Club Polo Fields in 2023. These investigations documented what was once the former Iroquois Hunt Club Polo Fields, a portion of the larger Hamburg Place, a thoroughbred farm owned by the Madden family since the late nineteenth century.  In the 1930s, Edward Madden, son of the original owner, John E. Madden, developed the site located at 2950 Winchester Road into polo grounds due to his keen interest in the sport.  The popularity of polo waxed and waned between the World Wars but had largely become a relic of the past in Kentucky by the 1950s.  The property is characterized by a collection of structures including gated entryways, two polo barns with adjacent corncribs, a stable, a metal corncrib, a pond, two tenant houses, an equipment shed, two barns, a clubhouse and a root cellar.​

South and East Elevations of Polo Barn (E).

Findings

Unidentified group of polo players at the polo fields, May 22, 1932.  Image: Lafayette Studios, collection at Univ. of Kentucky.

​Consultation with Kentucky Heritage Council staff determined that the Hamburg Place/Iroquois Hunt Club Polo Fields is Eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) under Criterions A and C.  Under Criterion A, the site was found to be significant for its association with the sport of polo and the horse industry in Fayette County during the first half of the 20th century, and with the agricultural context of the Bluegrass during the mid-20th century as tobacco and hay were grown there even during the heyday of the polo fields and beyond.  Under Criterion C, it is recommended eligible for the NRHP for the design of the polo barns which are outstanding examples of the type as well as the only ones of their kind in the Bluegrass.  ​


What's Cool?

The Iroquois Hunt Club Polo Fields document the continued popularity of the “Sport of Kings” in the Bluegrass during the first half of the 20th century.  There were three polo fields at the site with Polo Field #1 for official matches boasting earthen grandstands and wooden stands as well as shade trees for spectators.  Another polo field, also of regulation size, was utilized as a practice field and for interclub contests.  The third polo field was smaller in scale and utilized for “children’s and girl’s games.”  The clubhouse originally had a pool modeled after the New York Athletic Club pool and watered by artesian wells.
In spite of immense pressure from development to the south and west, the Iroquois Hunt Club Polo Fields retain much of their early 20th century footprint to include their historic entryways on US 60, most of the exterior and interior plank board fencing, the polo barns, the Polo Fields clubhouse and support structures such as the two tenant houses, corncribs and burley tobacco barns,  Vestiges of two polo fields also remain with greater visibility during the winter time.  Aerial imagery indicates that little has changed at the polo grounds; only the pool adjacent to the clubhouse has been infilled and the women’s dressing room has been lost.




Circa 1935 image, clubhouse is at left with polo barns in the background. Image: Lafayette Studios collection at the Univ. of KY

Related Materials

Entry to Polo Barn (E), showing cross gables and arched entryway facing northeast.

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