West End Park was a
baseball park
A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...
in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...
from 1905 to the 1940s. It was the primary ballpark for the city when it was constructed, and the city's first venue for
Negro Major League
The Negro Major League (NML), also called the Negro Major Baseball League of America, was one of the several Negro baseball leagues created during the time organized baseball was segregated. The NML was organized in 1942 by Abe Saperstein and Sy ...
games.
From 1909 through 1910 and again in 1915, it also served as the
spring training
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives estab ...
facility of the
St. Louis Browns (known today as the
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...
) as well as the 1914
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...
of the
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
and the 1906 through 1908
St. Louis Cardinals of the
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...
in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...
. After its use by its primary tenant, the
Houston Buffaloes of the
Texas League
The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...
, the ballpark was sold to what is now known as the
Houston Independent School District
The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby ...
for its use until it was demolished.
Contrary to its name, the ballpark's location was not in
West End, Houston, as that area had not yet been specifically designated as "West End", and the current municipal recreational park of the same has no relation to the ballpark. Instead, West End Park was located in the
freedmen's town area of the
Fourth Ward, with its entrance at Andrews and Heiner Streets. It was bounded by Andrews Street (north, third base line), Heiner Street (west, first base line), and Howe Street (east, left field fence). Behind the right field fence, to the south, was the inverted-V-shaped intersection of Jefferson Street and Bagby Street. The location was less than a mile straight west of the eventual site of
Minute Maid Park
Minute Maid Park is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 as the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Houston Astros. It has a seating capacity of 41,168, which includes 5,197 club seats and 63 lu ...
.
Today, the
Interstate 45
Interstate 45 (I-45) is a major Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Texas. While most Interstate routes which have numbers ending in "5" are cross-country north–south routes, I-45 is comparatively short, with th ...
"Pierce Elevated" passes over the area where the ballpark was, from Andrews Street to the Bagby Street exit.
History
Planning and construction
Construction of a new ballpark in Houston became necessary after the redevelopment of Herald Park
Herald Park (also known as Houston Base Ball Park, Fair Ground Park, and League Park) was a baseball park located in Houston, Texas and was the home of the Houston Buffaloes from 1888 until 1904. It also served as the spring training facility f ...
into a residential neighborhood during the 1904 season. While a temporary ballpark was used to host the rest of games for that season, poor transportation availability made travel difficult, and a new ballpark in the Westmoreland neighborhood was announced to be finished for 1905.
On January 9, 1905, the Houston Buffaloes organization was given authorization by the Houston City Council
The Houston City Council is a city council for the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas.
Currently, there are sixteen members, 11 elected from council districts and five at-large. The members of the Council are elected every four years, ...
for construction to begin on West End Park. During construction, a sandy soil was used for the field, so as to absorb moisture more easily. By March 15, the ball park's construction was nearly completed only lacking paint on the grandstand and field preparation.
Regular use
West End Park opened on April 1, 1905 as an unnamed park with an exhibition game between Houston and the Baton Rouge Cajuns of the Cotton States League
The Cotton States League''Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball: The Official Record of Minor League Baseball'' – Lloyd Johnson, Steve McDonald, Miles Wolff (editors). Publisher: Baseball America, 1997. Format: Paperback, 672pp. Language: Englis ...
. Houston lost, 0–2.
The ballpark later received its name through a contest conducted by a committee consisting of the ''Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...
'' sports editor, the ''Houston Post
The ''Houston Post'' was a newspaper that had its headquarters in Houston, Texas, United States. In 1995, the newspaper shut down, and its assets were purchased by the ''Houston Chronicle''.
History
Gail Borden Johnson founded the ''Houston Po ...
'' baseball editor, and South Texas League President Bliss P. Gorham. The suggested name chosen would allow its submitter to receive a season ticket to the new park. Ultimately, John T. Schulte of 1018 LaBranch Street was chosen as the winner through a unanimous committee vote on April 16, 1905. Other names considered included "San Jacinto Park", "Dick Dowling Park", "San Felipe Park", "Washington Park", and "Gorham Park" among others.
West End Park received major renovations in late 1908 when the Houston Buffaloes ownership increased capacity to the grandstand, added sidewalks and other pavement, and introduced a new grass diamond. During their annual festival, the No-Tsu-Oh Carnival Association had originally erected the stands at the ballpark as a temporary measure, but they were soon purchased by the Buffaloes to expand the grandstand. Other materials used for renovations, such as fences and more bleachers were purchased from nearby Marmion Park.
On December 5, 1911, the grandstand of West End Park was destroyed by a fire. The losses were estimated to exceed $5,000. The grandstand roof was blown off several years later when a storm hit Houston on November 25, 1915.
Post-Houston Buffaloes
On January 5, 1927, Sam Breadon, then owner of the team, announced that he wanted to purchase land from the City of Houston to construct a new ballpark. On January 18, it was announced that the location had been purchased in the East End
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
. Houston's new ballpark, Buffalo Stadium was then constructed for the 1928 season, and the Buffaloes moved from West End Park to the new stadium.
On August 1, 1928, the Houston Board of Education officially purchased the park from the Houston Baseball Association for $100,000 for use as school athletic fields. The park continued under the same name and continued to be used for secondary school, amateur and collegiate athletics, and for Negro league baseball
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 ...
games. With football being the major event for Houston public schools, West End Park was eventually replaced when Public School Stadium (later known as "Robertson Stadium") opened in 1942.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, most of the land occupied by the ballpark was used for various purposes when Heiner Street was extended and the Gulf Freeway was connected to downtown.
Other uses
The Sells Floto Circus used the West End Park grounds for their show when they came to Houston in September 1907.
American football
West End Park was often used as a site for American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...
games. In 1908, the ballpark was the host of what was dubbed the "state championship" in high school football with a game between Houston High School and San Antonio High School
Fox Technical High School is a public high school located in central San Antonio, Texas (USA) and classified as a 4A school by the UIL
The Uil ( kk, Ойыл, translit=Oyyl; russian: Уил, translit=Uil) is a river of western Kazakhstan. It d ...
. This championship preceded the formation of the University Interscholastic League
The University Interscholastic League (UIL) is an organization that creates rules for and administers almost all athletic, musical, and academic contests for public primary and secondary schools in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the largest organi ...
(UIL) that governs Texas high school extracurricular activities today.
From 1908 through 1911, the Texas Longhorns
The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...
and Texas A&M Aggies
Texas A&M Aggies refers to the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname " Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also referred to as "A&M" or "Texas Agg ...
played football games at West End Park during Houston's annual No-Tsu-Oh festival. On Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...
of 1910, Texas A&M played Tulane there. West End Park was also the venue of the inaugural football game of the Rice Owls
Rice University athletic teams are known as the Rice Owls. The name comes from the owls in Rice's crest. Rice participates in NCAA Division I athletics. A member of Conference USA, Rice sponsors teams in seven men's and seven women's NCAA sanctio ...
against Houston High School in 1912. The Rice teams moved to Rice Field
Wendel D. Ley Track and Holloway Field is a stadium in Houston, Texas. It is primarily used for track and field and soccer for the Rice University Owls. It is bounded by Main Street (southeast), University Boulevard (southwest), Reckling ...
when it opened in 1913.
Rice later hosted Notre Dame
Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to:
* Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France
* University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States
** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...
, Texas A&M, and LSU in football competitions at the ballpark in the 1915 season. In 1929 the first edition of the Prairie View Bowl The Prairie View Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game normally held on New Year's Day in Houston, Texas. The game was first held following the 1928 season. The annual game matched Prairie View A&M against a team from another historical ...
, which was the first bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivi ...
played by historically black colleges and universities
Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community. M ...
, took place at the ballpark between the Prairie View A&M Panthers
The Prairie View A&M Panthers and Lady Panthers represent Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas in intercollegiate athletics. They field eighteen teams including men and women's basketball, cross country, golf, and indoor and outdoor ...
and Atlanta Lions.
Transportation access
West End Park was served by the Houston Electric Company
HouTran was a public transportation company that served the Houston area. While its last iteration was publicly owned by the City of Houston, it was privately owned throughout the vast majority of its existence. Throughout several name changes a ...
's San Felipe line, which provided streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...
access during its time. With transfers from Houston's Union Station and Grand Central Station, this allowed for direct public transportation using interurban
The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 ...
lines such as the Galveston–Houston Electric Railway and Houston North Shore Railway.
See also
* Herald Park
Herald Park (also known as Houston Base Ball Park, Fair Ground Park, and League Park) was a baseball park located in Houston, Texas and was the home of the Houston Buffaloes from 1888 until 1904. It also served as the spring training facility f ...
* Buffalo Stadium
* Astrodome
The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Housto ...
* Minute Maid Park
Minute Maid Park is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 as the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Houston Astros. It has a seating capacity of 41,168, which includes 5,197 club seats and 63 lu ...
* Robertson Stadium
Sources
* ''Baseball in the Lone Star State: Texas League's Greatest Hits'', Tom Kayser and David King, Trinity University Press, 2005
External links
Part of the ballpark, on a Sanborn map, 1907
Part of the ballpark, on a Sanborn map, 1907
Parts of the ballpark, on a Sanborn map, 1907
References
{{s-end
1905 establishments in Texas
Baseball venues in Houston
Defunct college football venues
Defunct minor league baseball venues
Houston Buffaloes
Negro league baseball venues
New York Yankees spring training venues
Sports venues completed in 1905
St. Louis Cardinals spring training venues
St. Louis Browns spring training venues
Defunct sports venues in Texas
American football venues in Houston
1942 disestablishments in Texas