Devonshire Downs, sometimes informally called The Downs, was a horse racing track and multipurpose event facility in Northridge, California. It was located at the southwest corner of Devonshire Street and Zelzah Avenue, east of Reseda Boulevard. The site is now owned by the California State University, Northridge (CSUN), which renamed it North Campus, and leased in part to Medtronic MiniMed. [1] [2] [3]
In 1943, Helen Dillman and Pete Spears purchased 40 acres for $80,000 with plans to construct a harness racing 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.
During the 1950s, as the San Fernando Valley's population boomed and tract housing 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. [4] 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.
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. [5] 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 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, Joe Cocker and nearly thirty other top acts. [6] With over 200,000 people attending the festival over three days, it was the by far the largest music event in the United States up to that time. [7]
While the San Fernando Valley Fair utilized Devonshire Downs as its venue as early as the 1950s, [8] [9] the fair hit its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, [10] finally moving away from Northridge in the late 1980s. [11] [12]
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. [13] CSUN also developed part of the property for housing needs related to the University. [14]
Northridge is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The community is home to California State University, Northridge, and the Northridge Fashion Center.
California State University, Northridge is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students, it has the second largest undergraduate population as well as the third largest total student body in the California State University system, making it one of the largest comprehensive universities in the United States in terms of enrollment size. The size of CSUN also has a major impact on the California economy, with an estimated $1.9 billion in economic output generated by CSUN on a yearly basis. As of Fall 2021, the university had 2,187 faculty, of which 794 were tenured or on the tenure track.
The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment magnitude 6.7, blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The quake had a duration of approximately 10–20 seconds, and its peak ground acceleration of 1.82 g was the highest ever instrumentally recorded in an urban area in North America. Shaking was felt as far away as San Diego, Turlock, Las Vegas, Richfield, Phoenix, and Ensenada. The peak ground velocity at the Rinaldi Receiving Station was 183 cm/s, the fastest ever recorded.
The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated areas and the incorporated cities of Burbank, Calabasas, Glendale, Hidden Hills, and San Fernando. The valley is well known for its iconic film studios such as Warner Bros. Studio and Walt Disney Studios. In addition, it is home to the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park.
KCSN is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to Northridge, California and owned by California State University, Northridge. The station simulcasts with KSBR from Saddleback College in Mission Viejo. The station primarily airs adult album alternative (AAA) and Americana music with a mix of legends, new music, and local music with some specialty programming on weekends.
The California State University Northridge Botanic Garden or CSUN Botanic Garden is located in the northern San Fernando Valley, in the southeast section ("quadrant") of the California State University, Northridge campus in the community of Northridge in Los Angeles, California.
Jolene Koester is an American university administrator, economic board member, and author. She served as the 4th president of California State University, Northridge from July 2000 to December 2011, and as the interim Chancellor of the California State University system beginning in May 2022. Koester holds a Ph.D. in speech communication.
Bruce Lemmerman is a former professional American football player.
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.
Matador Field is a baseball venue located on the campus of Cal State Northridge in Los Angeles, California, United States, more specifically in the San Fernando Valley district of Northridge. It is home to the Cal State Northridge Matadors baseball team, a member of the Division I Big West Conference. The venue was opened on March 4, 1961, with the Matadors losing 10–8 to Claremont-Mudd. The facility has a capacity of 1,200.
The Cal State Northridge Matadors football team represented California State University, Northridge in the sport of American football from the 1962 through 2001 seasons. Between 1962 and 1992, Cal State Northridge competed at the NCAA Division II level prior to moving to Division I-AA in 1993. The Matadors played their home games at multiple stadiums throughout their history, with the most recent being North Campus Stadium in Northridge, California.
The National Center on Deafness is an American educational institution aimed at facilitating the education of deaf students. The facilities of the National Center on Deafness are located on the campus of California State University, Northridge, Los Angeles, California. Each year the university hosts the International Conference on Technology and Persons with Disabilities.
The 1988 Cal State Northridge Matadors football team represented California State University, Northridge as a member of the Western Football Conference (WFC) during the 1988 NCAA Division II football season. Led by third-year head coach Bob Burt, Cal State Northridge compiled an overall record of 6–5 with a mark of 2–4 in conference play, tying for fifth place in the WFC. The team outscored its opponents 269 to 268 for the season. The Matadors played home games at North Campus Stadium in Northridge, California.
The 1994 Cal State Northridge Matadors football team represented California State University, Northridge as a member of the American West Conference (AWC) during the 1994 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by Bob Burt in his ninth and final season as head coach, Cal State Northridge compiled an overall record of 3–7 with a mark of 0–3 in conference play, placing last out of four teams in the AWC. The team was outscored by its opponents 290 to 246 for the season. The Matadors played home games at North Campus Stadium in Northridge, California.
The 1996 Cal State Northridge Matadors football team represented California State University, Northridge as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Cal State Northridge and Sacramento State competed for the first time in the Big Sky Conference in 1996. Both teams has been members of the American West Conference (AWC), which folded after the 1995 season. Led by Dave Baldwin in his second and final season as head coach, Cal State Northridge compiled an overall record of 7–4 with a mark of 4–3 in conference play, tying for third place in the Big Sky. Two of the Matador's conference wins came against ranked opponents, Weber State and Eastern Washington. The team outscored its opponents 407 to 313 for the season. The Matadors played home games at North Campus Stadium in Northridge, California.
James William Cleary was an American university administrator and editor. He was the co-editor of multiple editions of Robert's Rules of Order and served as the second president of California State University, Northridge from 1969 to 1992.
Ralph Prator was an American college administrator. He served as the first president of San Fernando Valley State College—now known as California State University, Northridge—from 1958 to 1968.
Erika Drew Beck is an American academic administrator serving as the president of California State University, Northridge. She was previously president of California State University Channel Islands.
Chiara Barzini is an Italian writer known for her semi-autobiographical novel Things that Happened Before the Earthquake set in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles in the early 1990s.