DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Fair Grounds Base Ball Park in Harris County. Now settle in, because this is a story about a patch of Texas ground that punched well above its weight for a good long while. We're talking about a place where the first pitch led to the last out, and in between, a whole lot of history got made in the dirt.
Semi-professional baseball was already a major attraction at the very first annual state fair held in Houston — and that was May of 1870. One year later, the fairgrounds packed up and moved to a new location out near where Main Street quit pretending to be a street and just walked off into the prairie at Houston's south edge. Eighty acres.
A racetrack, a grandstand, a permanent exhibit hall. Livestock shows, dancing, competitions — and always, always baseball. The earliest multi-city baseball competitions in all of Texas were played right there at the Houston Fair Grounds Ball Field.
Now that's not a small thing. That's the whole state finding out what the game could be. They played that way until 1878, when the state fair left Houston forever.
Forever. The fair moved on, but the ball field — well, the ball field had other ideas. The fairgrounds were rented out as a city park, and that field at Travis and McGowen streets stayed alive and kicking.
In 1884, the professional Texas Association — the first intercity baseball league in the state — was playing games right there on that same ground. The old fairgrounds were being developed around it, but those six square blocks between McGowen, Main, Drew, and Milam held on. They stayed open.
For baseball. Then came April 1st, 1888. Now, you might think April Fool's Day is a curious time to make history, but nobody told Houston that.
The inaugural game of the Texas League was played at Fair Grounds Park, and Houston defeated Galveston four to one. The Texas League. First game.
Right there. By 1896, they'd rebuilt the grandstands with enough seats for twenty-five hundred spectators, because this place had earned itself a real crowd. It held Texas League games, major league exhibitions, and top African American teams in Texas.
It did all of that until 1904, when the six blocks where the field sat were finally developed. And less than a year after baseball moved away — less than a year — those blocks were subdivided and sold off as residential and commercial properties. Thirty-four years of history under a Texas sky, and then just like that, gone into deeds and property lines.
But for a long time, that prairie at the south edge of Houston was where Texas learned how to play ball.
What the marker says
Semi-professional baseball was a major attraction at the first annual state fair held in Houston in May of 1870. One year later, the fairgrounds moved to a new location near where Main Street ended onto the prairie at Houston's south edge. The fairgrounds had a racetrack, grandstand, and permanent exhibit hall that sat on eighty acres. The fair offered competitions, livestock shows, dancing, and baseball. The earliest multi-city baseball competitions in Texas were played at the Houston Fair Grounds Ball Field until the state fair left Houston forever in 1878. The fair grounds were rented as a city park, and the ball field at Travis and McGowen streets remained vibrant. The professional Texas Association, the first intercity baseball league in the state, played games at the field in 1884. Even as the old fair grounds were being developed, the six square blocks between McGowen, Main, Drew, and Milam remained open for baseball. On April 1, 1888, the inaugural game for the Texas League was played at Fair Grounds Park, with Houston defeating Galveston 4-1. In 1896, the grandstands were rebuilt with enough seats for 2,500 spectators. It continued to hold games for the Texas League, major league exhibitions and top African American teams in Texas until 1904, when the six blocks where the field sat were developed. Less than a year after baseball moved away, the blocks were subdivided and sold as residential and commercial properties. (2014)