Dexter Park was a horse race track in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

built in the years following the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. It was named for a gelding and trotter who had set world records for the mile and inspired the naming of several new towns including

Dexter, Missouri Dexter is a city in Stoddard County, Missouri, United States, founded in 1873. The population was 7,864 at the 2010 census. History Dexter was platted in 1873. Mr. Dex, an early settler, gave the community the name of his horse, Dexter. Dexter ...

and Dexter, Texas (a village about an hour north of Dallas). The track's formal opening was held in July 1867. Early baseball games at Dexter Park that July included a series staged for the touring

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

. The Nationals had been undefeated until they played the Forest City (Rockford) club, which defeated the Nationals 29-23. This generated a good deal of excitement for a game the next day against the Chicago champions, the Excelsior club. The Nationals proceeded to pummel the Excelsiors 49-4. Some Chicago fans, and local newspapers, accused the Nationals of being "blacklegs", i.e. of having lost to Forest City on purpose, to hype interest in the Excelsior match and the attendant wagering. The Nats complained, and the newspapers retracted their accusations. Harper's weekly (1865) (14742514046)

Dexter Park was the first home of the Chicago White Stockings, one of the oldest professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

clubs in operation. Chicago's sporting businessmen formed the White Stockings in 1870 to represent Chicago as the Red Stockings had done for Cincinnati in 1869. The ball field was established inside the track's oval and had its own small set of bleachers encircling the field. 1870 Chicago White Stockings

When the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players formed in 1871, the White Stockings joined the new league and relocated to the lakefront, at

Union Base-Ball Grounds Union Base-Ball Grounds was a baseball park located in Chicago. The park was "very visibly downtown", its small block bounded on the west by Michigan Avenue, on the north by Randolph Street, and on the east by railroad tracks and the lake shore, ...

. That move proved ill-fated, as it put the team's home field in the path of the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...

; the club did not field another professional team for two years while it nursed its financial position. Dexter Park was situated on the west side of Halsted Street, between 47th Street to the south and the imaginary line of 42nd Street to the north. This property was owned by, and adjacent to, the

Union Stock Yards The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., or The Yards, was the meatpacking district in Chicago for more than a century, starting in 1865. The district was operated by a group of railroad companies that acquired marshland and turned it into a central ...

. The "bird's-eye view" of the stockyards, from ca. 1878, shows part of the race track at the left edge. The track had ceased to be a working race track by 1880. By then it had been cut through by several of the Stock Yards' local roads and railroad spurs. hicago ''Inter Ocean'', May 22, 1880, p.7Its main usage had become conventions and cattle auctions. The last "race" mentioned in the local newspapers came in December 1881, a 100 yard dash contested (for betting) by two Stock Yards employees "on the old Dexter Park race track". hicago ''Inter Ocean'', December 5, 1881, p.6 Dexter Park Pavilion is first mentioned in local newspapers in 1884. hicago ''Inter Ocean'', May 22, 1884, p.15The Pavilion was the site of the famous wrestling bout contested between

George Hackenschmidt Georg Karl Julius Hackenschmidt ( – 19 February 1968) was an early 20th-century Estonian strongman, professional wrestler, author, and sports philosopher who is recognized as professional wrestling's first world heavyweight champion. Hack ...

and

Frank Gotch Frank Alvin Gotch (April 27, 1877 – December 17, 1917) was an American professional wrestler. Gotch was the first American professional wrestler to win the world heavyweight free-style championship, and he is credited for popularizing professi ...

in 1908, in what was considered professional wrestling's first true world championship bout. By 1909, the Pavilion had been renamed the International Amphitheater (I), but the two names were used synonymously in local papers. A marathon was staged between Olympic runners

Dorando Pietri Dorando Pietri (; often wrongly spelt Petri; 16 October 1885 – 7 February 1942) was an Italian long-distance runner. He finished first in the marathon at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London but was subsequently disqualified. Biography Earl ...

and

Albert Corey Albert Louis Corey (16 April 1878 – 3 August 1926) was a French athlete who competed at the 1904 Summer Olympics held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. He won a silver medal in the marathon race and also won a silver medal as a member of th ...

. hicago ''Tribune'', January 22, 1909, p.6 The Pavilion / Amphitheater was used for various exhibitions until May 19, 1934, hicago ''Tribune'', May 20, 1934, pp.1&5ref> when it was destroyed by fire. A new arena, the

International Amphitheater The International Amphitheatre was an indoor arena located in Chicago, Illinois, that opened in 1934 and was demolished in 1999. It was located on the west side of Halsted Street, at 42nd Street, on the city's south side, in the Canaryville nei ...

(II) was built on its site. The racetrack was commemorated by a road to the west of the arena, called Dexter Park Avenue.

References

External links

*Jack Bales,
Ballparks,"WrigleyIvy.com
*Jack Bales
''Before They Were the Cubs: The Early Years of Chicago’s First Professional Baseball Team''.
Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2019.

Early Chicago racetracks

Library of Congress map of Chicago showing Dexter Park, supposed to be 1892

Sanborn map showing Dexter Park Horse Exchange and Exposition Building, 1901

Detailed info including the 1867 games
{{coord, 41, 48, 36, N, 87, 38, 47, W, display=title Baseball venues in Chicago Wrestling venues in Chicago Sports venues in Chicago 1934 disestablishments in Illinois Defunct horse racing venues in Illinois