Around 1890, Edward Corrigan, a Chicago entrepreneur and the owner of the 1890 Kentucky Derby champion, Riley, purchased about 120 acres of prime land in Cicero and began constructing an elaborate grandstand for the racecourse. The new racetrack opened later in 1891 featuring a 5-race card that included the Chicago Derby. Around 1902, the well-laid out grandstand was razed to the ground by an unfortunate fire, which forced all racing events to be moved to the Harlem Racecourse situated in Chicago. The reopened course staged a twelve-day summertime race meeting at its own venue later in the same year.
In 1905, equestrian sporting events were banned in the whole of Chicago, leading to the immediate shutdown of Hawthorne Racecourse. The main field was used shortly by pioneer airmen Victor and Allan Loughead during1910 to test a motorized Montgomery glider as well as a Curtiss pusher. Four years after, the racetrack was purchased by Thomas Carey who attempted to re-launch the racetrack two times but was held back by the local sheriff's subdivision and the neighboring police department. However, in early 1916, the racetrack held a thirteen-day sport meeting which entailed the popular American Derby. That acted as the very last race at the gaming center until resumption of racing events six years later.
In mid-1922, the racecourse formally reopened for a thirteen-day racing meeting. A year later, the meeting extended again to twenty five days. The Chicago Business Men's Racing Association started handling gaming operations in 1924 and held an event meeting in the fall that lasted fifty two days. That very year, an additional clubhouse was erected at Hawthorne Racecourse, and a parimutuel gambling started. By late 1927, the racecourse was adding its prominence on the global community. A fresh starting was unveiled, as was the Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap, a principal stakes sporting event. During 1929, Sun Beau registered his first win during the Gold Cup and later captured two more significant victories. Around 1931, the electric timing plus an infield tote board were simultaneously unveiled at the popular racing arena.
The racetrack launched daily double betting to Chicago and started using the freshly introduced infrared timing method in the middle months of the 1930s. The facility started the Chicago gaming season in 1936 with a successful spring race meeting function. Hawthorne Racecourse continually advanced throughout the 1930s and 1940s, adapting the racing fixtures of Lincoln Fields Race Track. The now widely recognized racecourse additionally introduced special-category events that in which Illinois-bred horses participated.
Turf racing functions at Hawthorne resumed in 1948 with the redesigning of the old racing strip and the notable introduction of a 6-furlong turf course. In early 1959, a fresh clubhouse was launched featuring vastly extended seating capacity to meet the increasing racing requirements of the populous locale. The racetrack thrived continually in the 1960s and 1970s, despite the fact that it had slightly crested in fan attendance which had slowly started to drop.