Downs Field

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker at Downs Field has to say — and friend, this one earns every word. Now, before we talk about what this field became, you have to understand what this ground already was. Long before the grandstands went up, long before the lights came on, this particular patch of Austin earth had been home to African American athletics for decades.

That's not a footnote — that's the foundation. In 1914, the site was donated to Samuel Huston College, a college for African Americans. And by the late 1920s, it was already serving as a baseball stadium.

The Austin Black Senators called it home — a semi-professional team that didn't just play local ball. They went up against other Texas Negro League teams, African American college teams, barnstorming outfits, and squads from out of state, both here and on the road. Picture that.

This field, right here, drawing in talent from across the region, putting on games that mattered deeply to a community that wasn't being invited anywhere else. Then in December of 1938, the site was sold to Austin public schools and converted — converted into a football field and stadium for L.C. Anderson High School.

Anderson was, during segregation, the only high school for African Americans in Austin. And this place did not let them down. In 1942, L.C.

Anderson High School won the Prairie View Interscholastic League state championship right here on this ground. And on this same field, a young man by the name of Dick Lane played — Dick "Night Train" Lane, future Pro Football Hall of Famer. He was here.

On this ground. Before the whole country knew his name. Now, a few years later, a man named Reverend Karl Downs became president of Samuel Huston College.

This was 1943. Karl Downs was, by all the marker's account, an influential leader — influential enough that when a baseball field needed a name, his is the one they reached for. He was born in 1912 and died in 1948, the marker notes it plainly as an untimely death, because that's exactly what it was.

He never got to see what would come next. What came next was this: in 1949, a new baseball field was constructed at 12th Street and Springdale Road — built as a, quote, separate but equal alternative to Disch Field. That was Downs Field in its first life.

Named for Reverend Karl Downs. And in 1954, the city of Austin relocated Downs Field from that original location to right here, to this very site with its long memory. The Austin Black Pioneers played here.

The Greyhounds played here. The Indians played here. And Huston-Tillotson University — the school that grew from Samuel Huston College — still calls this their home field today.

More than a century of athletic history, compressed into one piece of Austin real estate. Games that the rest of the city may have ignored at the time, played by athletes of local, state, and national renown — athletes who had no other field to come home to, so they made this one legendary. That's not just a ballpark.

That's a testament.

What the marker says

In 1954, the city of Austin relocated Downs Field here from its original location at 12th Street and Springdale Road where it was constructed in 1949 as a “separate but equal” alternative to Disch Field. Downs Field has been used by the Austin Black Pioneers, Greyhounds, and Indians, and remains the home field of Huston-Tillotson University. It was named for Rev. Karl Downs (1912-1948), influential president of Samuel Huston College from 1943 until his untimely death in 1948. The baseball field and wooden grandstands were built at this site which had been home to African American athletics for decades prior. The site was donated to Samuel Huston College, a college for African Americans, in 1914, and used for its baseball stadium beginning in the late 1920s. It was also home to the Austin Black Senators, a semi-professional baseball team. The Austin Black Senators played other Texas Negro League teams as well as African American college, barnstorming, and out-of-state teams here and on the road. In December 1938, the site was sold to Austin public schools and converted into a football field and stadium for L.C. Anderson High School, the only high school for African Americans during segregation. It is here that L.C. Anderson High School won the 1942 Prairie View Interscholastic League state championship and future Pro Football Hall of Famer Dick “Night Train” Lane played. For more than a century, the site has been a significant part of the cultural and sporting history of Austin, and a field of memorable games and moments by athletes of local, state and national renown. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2015