Dexter Park was a
public park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to re ...
located in the neighborhood of
Woodhaven,
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, just north of Eldert Lane and
Jamaica Avenue
Jamaica Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New York, in the United States. Jamaica Avenue's western end is at Broadway and Fulton Street, as a continuation of East New York Avenue, in Brooklyn's E ...
, not far from the borough line with
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. It had a long early history starting in the 19th century as a recreational park, which replaced a racetrack.
Horse Racing
In the 19th century, Queens lacked the stricter building rules of Brooklyn. Hotels sprung up and Woodhaven became the site of two racetracks: the
Union Course
Union Course was a horse racing course in what is now Woodhaven, Queens, in New York City. It hosted some of the most famous horse races in American history, including the 1823 match between American Eclipse (racehorse), American Eclipse and Sir ...
(1821) and the Centerville (1825). Union Course was a nationally famous racetrack situated in the area now bounded by 78th Street, 82nd Street, Jamaica Avenue and Atlantic Avenue. Elderts Lane was the city line and the park was just beyond that in Queens.
Legend has it that the track was named for a famous horse called Dexter, reputedly buried at the site. However, the ''
Brooklyn Eagle
:''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently''
The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...
'' disputed this claim in 1891:
The name of Hiram Woodruff recalls Dexter Park. Hiram was the first owner of that property, and, until five or six years ago, his name still appeared in big letters over the horseshed adjoining the hotel. Then the shed was blown down, and when it was rebuilt the name of Hiram Woodruff had disappeared. But Dexter Park did not take its name from the famous trotter owned by the proprietor of the place. It was known simply as Hiram's, and when Woodruff died a man named Charles Dexter took charge of the place. From that time on it has been known as Dexter Park.'
The lineage progressed from Dexter to Charles Durlier, thence Louis Miller. Under Miller's stewardship the park was devoted to pigeon shooting; while disreputable, it was legal on their side of the Kings County line, as was observed by the ''South Side Observer'' in 1885:
"Dexter's on the plankroad and just east of the Kings County line is a complete resort for Sunday base ball players. The participants are a class who have been under the eye of the Kings County authorities for some time, but escaped arrest by stepping over into this county. Applause and yelling are the order of the afternoon, and intoxicants are sold."
Baseball
The first regular ballgame was in 1889 when the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad met the Merrits for a Sunday opener that season. The Royal Arcanum League made it their home in the 1890s. In 1901, ownership passed to the
William Ulmer Brewery
The William Ulmer Brewery is a brewery complex in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City. It consists of four buildings—an office, a brew house, an engine–machine house, and a stable–storage house—all constructed between 1872 and 1890 in the ...
which installed Conrad Hasenflug as manager. This period saw the famous
black baseball Brooklyn Royal Giants
The Brooklyn Royal Giants were a professional Negro league baseball team based in Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 1905 by John Wilson Connor (1875–1926), owner of the Brooklyn Royal Cafe, the team initially played against white semi-pro teams. ...
featured prominently from 1905-1913. As Sunday
Blue Laws
Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, Sunday trade laws and Sunday closing laws, are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons ...
were less strictly enforced in Queens, the destination was quite popular, with the elevated station at 75th street (on the J line) crowded to and from Brooklyn.
Dexter Park was the home of the
Brooklyn Bushwicks
The Brooklyn Bushwicks were an independent, semi-professional baseball team that played its games almost totally in Dexter Park in Queens from 1913 to 1951. They were unique at their time for fielding multi-ethnic rosters. They played what amou ...
, an independent semi-pro team that played there from 1913 until 1951.
The park was purchased for them from the Ulmer Brewery in 1922.
The Bushwicks played many teams in the
Negro leagues
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...
, as well as various All-Star teams; the club was owned by Max Rosner, who eventually purchased Dexter Park as well. The lighting system, first used on July 23, 1930, was among the first permanent lighting systems for night baseball in the U.S. and the first in New York City (
Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League (1913–1957). It was also home to five p ...
was not lighted for the Dodgers until 1938) and was designed and installed by Max Rosner's son, Herman Rosner, who was an electrical engineer.
Many former Major League ballplayers were featured on the Bushwicks, such as the Cuccinello brothers,
Tony
Tony may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer
* Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...
and
Al.
Josh Gibson
Joshua Gibson (December 21, 1911 – January 20, 1947) was an American baseball catcher primarily in the Negro leagues. Baseball historians consider Gibson among the best power hitters and catchers in baseball history. In 1972, he became the se ...
once hit a home run over the 30-foot high wall behind the 418-foot deep left-center bleachers.
Other semi-pro teams called Dexter home, including the Brooklyn Farmers in the 1920s and 1930s.
By the early 1950s, screening of major league games on television in New York City dried up the audiences for semi-pro ball, and the Bushwicks folded after the 1951 season.
Soccer
Dexter Park set an attendance high for a
National Challenge Cup
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country.
The 2023 U.S. O ...
(now
U.S. Open Cup
The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...
) final on April 7, 1929. Despite an official capacity of only 15,400, a whopping 21,583 fans jammed into Dexter to watch
New York Hakoah
New York Hakoah is an American soccer club based in New York City, which takes its name from two earlier, defunct clubs.
''Hakoah'' (roughly translated as "strength" from Hebrew) is a frequent name for sport and social Jewish clubs around the worl ...
defeat
St. Louis Madison Kennel, 2-0. It was the largest crowd to see a Open Cup Final for more than 80 years, until October 5, 2010, when 31,311 attended an
Open Cup final at
Qwest Field
Lumen Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located in the city's SoDo neighborhood, it is the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL, the ...
in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
.
Football and other sports
High school and college football games were also held at Dexter Park, attracting crowds near 10,000 at times. On November 1, 1930, a section of the stands seating 500 fans collapsed during a game; luckily, no one was hurt, and Jamaica went on to defeat Richmond Hill, 25-2, to claim the all-Queens title. Boxing under the lights at Dexter was also popular, with over 150 cards held there from 1914-50. On May 24, 1926, 10,000 spectators braved unexpectedly cold weather to witness the first card of the year, disputing one result so loudly that the announcer was unable to introduce the next bout. (US Army
welterweight
Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...
champion Eddie Burnbrook knocked out Willie Dillon in the main contest.) Roller derby and rodeo were also seen at Dexter Park from time to time.
Racing
With the decline of semi-pro ball, stock car racing was added to the site on April 15, 1951 and continued until 1955. The main sanctioning body on Long Island was the Allstate Racing Stock Car Club, the officers of whom were mostly drivers and racecar owners who were expanding operations from Freeport Stadium.
But ticket sales were lackluster, and the park was sitting on choice real estate. So, in 1955, Dexter Park was sold, torn down in 1957,
[8 of NYC's Lost Baseball Stadiums - Untapped New York (untappedcities.com)] and replaced by one- and two-family houses, as well as a supermarket now owned by the
CTown chain.
See also
Neir's Tavern
Neir's Tavern is a bar located at 87-48 78th Street in the Woodhaven neighborhood of Queens, New York City. It is one of the oldest bars in the United States, having been in nearly continuous operation since 1829.
History
Original operation ...
Union Course
Union Course was a horse racing course in what is now Woodhaven, Queens, in New York City. It hosted some of the most famous horse races in American history, including the 1823 match between American Eclipse (racehorse), American Eclipse and Sir ...
References
External links
*
*
Sanborn map showing the ballpark, 1911
{{coord, 40, 41, 37, N, 73, 52, 03, W, display=title
Defunct horse racing venues in New York City
Sports venues in Queens, New York
Defunct baseball venues in the United States
Demolished sports venues in New York (state)
Baseball venues in New York City
Former sports venues in New York City
Woodhaven, Queens
1955 disestablishments in New York (state)