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An Application for an Official Harris County Historical Marker for PARK by Mike Vance and presented to the Harris County Historical Commission

CONTEXT

Houston in 1905 was a growing city that could be considered mostly Southern in nature. It was the completely un-air-conditioned home to fewer than 75,000 people.1 The bustling port operations were primarily located around the foot of Main Street, and city fathers billed their metropolis as “Where Seventeen Railroads Meet the Sea”. The city limits ended in a roughly four-mile square that centered around the site of the Courthouse at Congress and Fannin.2

7 - 3 – Ballpark at Travis & McGowen Map - 1904 Whitty

1 Morrison and Fourney Directory of 1905; “Seventy Five thousand.” 12 March 1905 2 Morrison and Fourney Directory of Houston 1904; P Whitty Map and Street Guide to Houston, 1904

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There is no doubt that baseball was the National Game in the first decade of the twentieth century.3 Football existed in college, and was quite popular, but an all-professional football league was still fifteen years away. Only championship boxing matches garnered the press coverage afforded baseball, and those were hardly everyday occurrences. All sports of the day did share one thing in common: they were vehicles for heavy gambling, and Houston was a hotbed of such activity.4

Much as they would continue to do into the current century, baseball stadiums were also occasional homes to other forms of entertainment. When the circus came to town, it often set up shop at the local ball park. Large conventions sometimes used the grounds, as did major religious revivals. In Houston, the main baseball stadium was the end destination for the annual No-Tsu- Oh parade and the site of the annual football game that was a part of that week’s festivities.5

In spite of the strict racial segregation of the day, the local baseball stadium, though generally white-owned, regularly leased the park for black baseball contests. All games, no matter the race of the competitors, offered separate seating for both black and white patrons.

OVERVIEW

The 1904 baseball season had been marred by the closure of the longtime professional ball park at Travis and McGowen in mid-season after the landowner decided to develop the six-block parcel into home sites.6 The second half of the schedule saw the majority of the games played on the road, with home games taking place at a converted horse track on Harrisburg Road.7 That site was not deemed viable due to the lack of a nearby street car stop.

West End Park was opened at the corner of Andrews and Heiner in Fourth Ward in April 1905 as the home of Houston’s South League baseball club.8 The minor league ball club was most

3 Thorn, John. Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game. Simon & Schuster. 2011. P 133-35. 4 Thorn. P 181-82 5 Houston Post 15 November 1908; “Answers Charge of Professionalism.” Houston Post 14 November 1909 6 Assessor’s Abstract of Town Lots, Harris County, Texas. 1905. p 636 7 “Local Baseball News.” Houston Post 3 July 1904; “No More Ball.” Houston Post 4 August 1904 8 “Work on the New Park.” Houston Post 19 February 1905; “The New Park.” Houston Post 3 March 1905; “It is the First.” Houston Post 1 April 1905; “Bad Beginning.” Houston Post 2 April 1905 NOTE: From 1903-1906 professional

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3 commonly known throughout its history as the Buffaloes, a nickname that had first come into being in 1896, but the franchise was Houston’s first professional sports team, dating to 1888.9

The ball park’s main entrance sat on that corner with the physical plant running to the southeast. This placed Andrews along the third base line, Heiner along the first base line and Howe Street flanking the yard’s left field fence. The land was part of the John Day Andrews tract which had eventually passed to Andrews’ daughter, Eugenia Flewellen.10 She leased the land to the baseball team when the park was built.11 It was part of ten acres which Mr. Andrews had purchased from Jackson Smith, heir of Obedience Fort Smith who had received the patent from the Republic of Texas in 1845 for much of early .12

The ball park property did not run completely flush with Heiner Street. Parts of the street frontage had first been leased and then sold to Franceso Capritto, one of a growing number of Italians who were becoming landowners and landlords in the neighborhood.13 He and fellow immigrant, Vincenzo Polichino, would be West End Park’s neighbors until the park’s demise.14

baseball operated as the North Texas League and the South Texas League. They reunited as the Texas League in 1907. 9 Ruggles, William B.. The History of the Texas League of Professional Baseball Clubs 1888-1951. (Texas Baseball League, 1951) 10 Harris County Deed Records Vol. 30, p 145-48 regarding estate of Eugenia Andrews, dec’d.; Harris County Deed Records Vol. 105, p 186-91 Lilly E Flewellen and estate of Bettie McFarland to Eugenia Flewellen 11 Harris County Contracts 22, p 218-19; “Grandstand is Burned.” Galveston Daily News 6 December 1911 12 Harris County Deed Records, Vol. F, p 235 Jackson Smith to J.D. Andrews 13 Harris County Contracts 27, p 209-10 Lillie E. Flewellen, R.T. Flewellen, Sr to Francesco Capritto; Census survey, Harris County, Fourth Ward Houston, 1910 -1920; “With its Rich History, Fourth Ward is Strong in Symbolism.” 9 January 2000 A24 14 Harris County Deed Records Vol. 623, p 626 Polichino to Capritto; Harris County Deed Records Vol. 624, p 660 Capritto to Polichino; United States Census 1910. Harris County, Texas. P 234.

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Composite map created from Sanborn Fire Maps 1907

The San Felipe street car line, which served the heavily African-American Freedmens Town neighborhood immediately west of the new ball park location, ran along Andrews Street with a stop at the new park. The street car company promised quick service from the heart of downtown. For a city that relied heavily on public transportation, and an ownership that had learned the public transportation lesson the hard way, that was tremendously important.15

The grandstand at West End Park grew over the years, with two partial reconstructions necessitated by natural events. The first was a fire in December 1911.16 Only a few years later, the Hurricane of 1915 destroyed much of the outfield fence and ripped the roof off the grandstand.17 Nearby Antioch Baptist Church lost the top of its steeple, altering the view from West End Park toward downtown. When it opened, the capacity of the park exceeded 3,000 with

15 “Damage Suit Industry Affects the Baseball Devotees.” Houston Post 16 July 1904 16 “New Concrete Grandstand May Rise at West End Park.” Houston Chronicle 5 December 1911; “Grandstand is Burned.” Galveston Daily News 6 December 1911; “Houston Ball Park is Destroyed by Fire.” San Antonio Light 6 December 1911 17 “Houston Ball Grounds Being Made Ready.” San Antonio Light 22 August 1915

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5 bleacher seats for another 1,500 located down the baselines.18 Certain sought-after games brought almost twice that many people in attendance.19

Today the Pierce Elevated section of runs through the heart of West End Park’s footprint. The site of left field and much of the outfield wall is covered by a Center Point Energy Power Station with Howe Street still running along the former ball park property line.

BACKGROUND

Coming off a 1904 season that easily ranks as the one of the barmiest in the city's history, Houston's baseball people understood that securing a new ball park stood alone at the top of the to do list. That urgency was certainly not evident on the pages of the city's press, however.

Media in those days were a far cry from the modern 24-hour news cycle, so progress reports on the search for a location were sparse at best. A brief article in early January 1905 telling of the upcoming winter meetings for the South Texas League, meetings that were postponed multiple times, mentioned that Houston’s owner/manager Claud Rielly had secured a new location for his park, but without mentioning where exactly that might be.

On January 19, 1905 the Houston Post finally announced that the new Houston would "be located at the intersection of Heiner and Andrews streets.”20 The park will be “400 feet square and the San Felipe street car line will pass by the gates. The street car management has promised five minute service."21

Perhaps with a remembrance of the previous year's attendance troubles, the article pointed out that the park was six blocks closer to the center of downtown than the old park.

18 “Work at the Park.” Houston Post 21 March 1905; Ankenman, Fred, Sr.. Four Score and More: The Autobiography of Fred N. Ankenman, Sr.. (Texas Gulf Coast Historical Association, 1980) p 37; Charter of Houston Base Ball Association filed with Secretary of State of Texas on 21 February 1920 19 “Record Crowd Expected Today.” Houston Chronicle 20 March 1910 20 Houston Post 19 January 1905 21 “Work on the New Park.” Houston Post 19 February 1905

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The property itself covered about four square blocks and was part of several acres that had belonged to the estate of farmer, and early Houston mayor, John Day Andrews. Ownership fell to Andrews' daughter, Eugenia Flewellen. She and her husband, and then she alone, would be the lease holder on the property for many years.22 One example of the early lease agreements was a three year deal filed in December 1907. It obligated Claud Rielly to pay Flewellen $300 each January and July with any adverse action against the ball club being grounds for termination of the agreement.23

The site was adjacent to a tract owned by the William Marsh Rice estate; it was being considered for the new Rice Institute. The Rice land would quickly prove too small to hold the envisioned school. Most everything else around those parcels was established residential and commercial property in Fourth Ward on the southwestern edge of downtown.

The selection of the site might not have taken much of Rielly's imagination, either, since the sport of baseball was not new to that spot. The year before, while the professionals were being dispossessed, the unpaved intersection of Andrews and Howe that would soon shade the left field corner was referred to as the Fourth Ward grounds, home to various amateur games.24

In late spring of 1904, the crack team representing Levy Brothers department store took on a club called the Owls and another known as the Gieske Brothers Stags, presumably sponsored by the large shoe store on Main Street. The Post noted the location of the field as being at the aforementioned corner "near Cash's Grocery on the San Felipe car line."

Like many things associated with the South Texas League, construction of the new ball park appears to have been a bit improvised. The initial story in mid-January trumpeted that construction would begin in days, but it would be another month before work actually started25, and that was cut abruptly short by a dispute over ownership of the ball club and a desire by the team's bankroller to seek another location. Construction halted in its infancy. The only work accomplished was lumber for the grandstand being cut into needed lengths.

22 “Grandstand is Burned.” Galveston Daily News 6 December 1911 23 Harris County Contracts 22, p 218-19 24 “Owls Will Play Double-Header.” Houston Post 24 July 1904 25 “The New Park.” Houston Post 5 February 1905

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Luckily for Houston baseball aficionados, things worked themselves out.26 Reports from mid to late February show that while Maurice Michael was the money behind the team, Claud Rielly would continue as business manager and Wade Moore would be team captain, field manager and in charge of player personnel.27

When it was decided that Michael's alternate site choice was too small, the Andrews plot won out, and it fell to Rielly and Heights carpenter and construction man, Charles W. Raper, to whip a baseball park into shape.

Complicating matters was the fact that the St. Louis Cardinals had planned to hold their in Houston, as they had the year prior, but as delays mounted, they began hedging their bets. Not helping matters was an especially wet winter that included a notable four and a half inch rainfall in one day, turning the construction site into a mud hole.28 The Cardinals decided to train in Marlin, Texas instead.29 A pre-season series between Houston and Waco also went by the boards.

Still, Houston's newspapers reported progress almost every day that was sunny enough to work.30 Details about the black sandy loam that would be used to top the playing field and wrangling over benches versus chairs whetted the readers' appetites. Scores of them visited the construction site daily, occasionally interfering with the workers.31

In February, a representative from the Spaulding Company came to town to ink a deal for the new uniforms that the local boys would be wearing during the inaugural season at their new park.32 For the first time in club history, the Houston nine could boast different apparel at home than they wore on the road, just as the big leaguers had done for some time. The former would be

26 “The New Park.” Houston Post 25 February 1905 27 “The New Club.” Houston Post 24 February 1905 28 “The Opening.” Houston Post 19 March 1905 29 “The New Park.” Houston Post 3 March 1905 30 Houston Post 5 March 1905 31 “Benches for the Stands.” Houston Post 10 March 1905; “The New Park.” Houston Post 3 March 1905 32 “League is to be Called.” Houston Post 11 February 1905

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8 white trimmed in blue, and the latter were gray trimmed in brown. To make things even more special, the leftover togs from 1904 would be used for practice.

As March 1905 wound to a close, so did ballpark construction. Choices had been made, and plans were becoming reality. The field was oriented with home plate in the northwest so that the prevailing southerly breeze would be blowing in. Benches were used for most of the grandstand, save for the row of four person boxes that lined the front: those featured chairs. The grandstand was said to accommodate 3000 with another 1500 in the bleachers down the left field line. A segregated section for African-American fans was also available on the right field side. For a city whose total population had yet to reach 75,000, it was a more than adequate number.33

The street car company made improvements on the line to ensure that service was fast and regular.34 Rielly, Raper and crew built plank sidewalks from the car stops to the grounds and gravel walkways to the seats.

A commodious press box was placed into the angle of the grandstands behind the catcher. As for the diamond itself, the right field fence was extended fifty feet to "give the right gardener ample territory to show his sprinting ability." 35

Game action finally came off on April 2, when Baton Rouge of the Cotton States League arrived for a series. A good crowd braved threatening weather to attend the inaugural game, but the locals left disappointed, as the Cajuns prevailed by a score of 2 to 0. The Houston team, Moore's Marvels, an informal name assigned by the Houston sports writers to the 1905 squad, managed only one single against Baton Rouge's , Baker, and that didn't come until the eighth.36

The new ball park now needed a name, so the owners ran a contest to find one.37 After two weeks and what they claimed were more than 1000 entries, the three man committee

33 Charter of Houston Base Ball Association filed with Secretary of State of Texas on 21 February 1920; Ankenman p 37 34 Houston Post 19 January 1905 35 “A Diagram of the New Park.” Houston Post 26 February 1905 36 “Bad Beginning.” Houston Post 2 April 1905 37 “Name for Park.” Houston Post 1 April 1905

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9 unanimously agreed on West End Park. The award of a season ticket went to John T. Schulte, a teenager, and son of an immigrant merchant who lived on La Branch.38

Over the first few days of play, Houstonians settled in. Within two weeks many of the city's boys had begun to cut holes in the fence. In a nod to current events, the Post reported that "down near center field it looks like a Russian battleship after an encounter with a Jap torpedo boat."39

After exhibition series with teams such as Dallas40 and Corsicana from North Texas, Houston opened the South Texas League season on the road. They visited Galveston, Beaumont and San Antonio, the three other cities in the league. In their absence the finishing touches were applied in anticipation of the official league opener, including a nice coat of green paint with white trim applied to the grandstand.41

The Marvels won the home opener on May 8, besting the San Antonio Bronchos (sic) 2 to 0. Few empty seats were to be had, and the crowd, some of whom paid as little as twenty-five cents for grandstand tickets, was described as enthusiastic. For the record, game time was at 4:05, and Houston's mayor, Andrew L. Jackson, cracked a few jokes as he welcomed the crowd before throwing out the first pitch.42

Praise for the new ball park was widespread.43 Even San Antonio's manager, Bill Morrow, in a backhanded manner, joined the chorus. He allowed that when he first saw the location, it was the biggest mud hole in the city, but that team management deserved a great deal of credit for turning such a miserable place into a beautiful park, one of the nicest, neatest and most convenient in the South.

38 “The Park Named.” Houston Post 16 April 1905 39 “Notes from the Dope Mill.” Houston Post 18 April 1905 40 “Notes from the Dope Mill.” Houston Post 7 April 1905 41 “Local Dope.” Houston Post 6 May 1905 42 “Got the First.” Houston Post 9 May 1905 43 “Bad Beginning.” Houston Post 2 April 1905

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A telephone was installed at the yard right around opening day, an event notable enough to make the newspaper.44 Another possible first for the park occurred when Jim Rielly had his watch stolen in the stands two weeks prior to the league opener. He later retrieved it from a pawn shop for the sum of two dollars.45

The first weekend of the season, team management brought in Tony Castellane, a daredevil who had been performing bicycle stunts at Highland Park, an amusement venue on . He was scheduled to loop the loop at the ball park on Friday, Saturday and Sunday when crowds would top 3000 each day.46 Though the stunts might have gone off without a hitch, on Thursday, Galveston's Mike Burns injured himself when he ran into the looping apparatus that loomed beyond the foul line and had to leave the game.47

As soon as the white South Texas League team left again for the road, the top African-American team in Houston moved into the park. Renting to the "colored team" was common practice for white team owners across the country at a time when inter-racial contests were hard to find anywhere in the 45 states. By mid-April, the Prairie View College team met a local black ball club at the new grounds.48

Though segregation in the former Confederate states was generally quite strict, and the policy was always separate, but unequal, that didn't mean that Houston baseball crowds were a single race affair. When reporting on the number of patrons to witness the first official league game at West End Park, the sports page noted that "the colored bleachers were loaded to the guards".49

Likewise, when the Dillard Colts, billed as the champion black team of the city, hosted African- American teams from La Grange and Beaumont to start May 1905 at West End Park, nearly every article reminded readers that "a portion of the grandstand has been reserved for the white

44 “Notes from the Fan Mill.” Houston Post 10 April 1905 45 “Chaff from the Dope Mill.” Houston Post 20 April 1905 46 “Chaff from the Fan Mill.” Houston Post 10 May 1905 47 “Chaff from the Dope Mill.” Houston Post 12 May 1905 48 “Prairie View Defeated.” Houston Post 20 April 1905 49 “Notes from the Fan Mill.” Houston Post 10 April 1905

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11 patrons".50 Such was the rule in Houston where fans often paid to see good baseball played by whatever team was in town.

One thing that these Houston ball cranks were not witnessing in the early days of West End Park was the long ball. Three full weeks after the first contest with Baton Rouge, city haberdashers were offering various items to the first player to make the horsehide leave the yard.51

To say that the ample distance in right field made it tough to clear that fence in the heart of the dead ball era, when home runs were scarce already, is quite the understatement. Houston's Fred "Newt" Hunter, not known as a slugger, did it first in the inaugural season. It would be four more years before the second ball left West End Park in right. Hobe Ferris of the St. Louis Browns accomplished the feat during spring training of 1909, and in July of the same year, Galveston's third sacker Bill Yohe pounded one out to right. A month later, Yohe made his big league debut with the Washington Senators.52

From the early days, West End Park was a multi-sport venue. The YMCA hosted a statewide track and field meet there in 1909. There were events such as the wrestling match between Pat Brown and Cyclone Mitchell in 1915. High school football teams from both Houston and the Heights used the ballpark to host rivals from places like Bryan or Beaumont.53

But some of the biggest events at West End were premier college football matchups. Often in conjunction with the giant fall festival No-Tsu-Oh (Houston spelled backwards), a signature gridiron match was scheduled for mid-November each year.

From 1908 through 1911, the Texas Longhorns played Texas A&M in an annual Monday game at West End Park, splitting the four evenly between them. The UT wins in 1908 and 1911 led to major trouble, though. In '08, when Texas students marched at halftime with brooms held as shouldered rifles, indicating that the Horns intended to sweep both contests scheduled against the Aggies that year, it drew an immediate angry response from the Corps, a small group of whom

50 “Colored Teams Play.” Houston Post 3 May 1905; “Colored Teams Played.” Houston Post 5 May 1905 51 “Chaff from the Dope Mill.” Houston Post 21 April 1905 52 “Blakely’s Curves Were Not Mystifying.” Galveston Daily News 4 July 1909 53 “Allen Academy Will Clash With Heights Today.” Galveston Daily News 23 October1909

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12 vaulted the ballpark fence and started a melee that culminated in an Aggie cadet stabbing a Texas student.54

When another near riot took place after a particularly rough 6 to 0 Texas win in 1911, one that included what Varsity fans thought was the deliberate breaking of a Horns player's leg and gangs of Farmer students roaming downtown to attack anyone dressed in Longhorn colors, Texas cancelled the traditional nightshirt victory parade that was to have snaked through . Soon after, the university president terminated the football series with A&M altogether.55

Instead, over the next few years prior to WWI, No-Tsu-Oh party-goers and fans saw the Aggies play Oklahoma and Tulane and saw Texas play Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Sewanee.56 In the earliest years of Rice football, the Owls often called West End Park home, including a big game against Notre Dame in 1915.57

The first decade for West End Park did have two disastrous interruptions. A pre-dawn fire in early December 1911 destroyed the grandstand and four small houses that were packed close by.58 Team owner Otto Sens, who was hunting in Cypress when he learned of the blaze, knew that he had only one year remaining on his lease, so investing the estimated $8,000 to rebuild the grandstands was no foregone conclusion.

The Galveston Daily News reported that plans for an improved "baseball plant" had been drawn months earlier and further speculated that a new lease would be in hand "before the first nail is driven".59 Talk of building a concrete stadium went nowhere, but the rebuilt grandstand did boast a few improvements. Seats were raised with concessions set underneath.60

54 “A and M Commended. ”Galveston Daily News 15 November 1908; "Longhorns Defeat the Farmer Eleven," San Antonio Light, Tuesday, 10 November 1908, p7; Maysel, Lou. Here Come the Texas Longhorns. Stadium Publishing Co.. Ft. Worth. 1970 p. 37 55 “Ankle Bone Fractured.” Galveston Daily News 15 November 1911; Maysel, Lou. Here Come the Texas Longhorns. Stadium Publishing Co.. Ft. Worth. 1970 p. 45-46 56 “Longhorns Rip Open Mississippi Varsity.” Galveston Daily News 14 November 1912 57 “Rice is Not Discouraged Over Prospects for Today.” Galveston Daily News 27 November 1915 58 “Grandstand is Burned.” Galveston Daily News 6 December 1911 59 “Grandstand is Burned.” Galveston Daily News 6 December 1911 60 “Houston Baseball Park.” Houston Chronicle 19 January 1912

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One thing not offered at the concessions when West End Park first opened was beer.61 Management announced a strict policy that, just as at the old park, no alcohol would be allowed. How strict the enforcement actually was, however, is open to debate. One memoir describes how an empty bucket lowered from the press box would find its way back up the rope with a load of cold beverages for the "thirsty scribes". One doubts they meant colas.

The second catastrophe for the park came on August 17, 1915 when what would today be a category 4 hurricane hit the upper Texas coast. By the time the storm's center had traveled from Galveston to Houston, sustained winds were closer to 80 mph, but still plenty strong enough to blow down outfield fences and rip the entire roof off the wooden grandstands, depositing the remnants some distance away.62

By the next day, the club's owners were estimating their loss in the range of $3000 and were already making plans to move the remainder of the Buffs' home games for the first time since 1904. By the end of the week however, "Herculean efforts (had) succeeded in putting the park in some sort of shape for play for the remainder of the season".

Baseball thrived at West End thanks to a new generation of fans that were nurtured by the Buffs. By 1922, the ball club was operating a thriving "Knot Hole Gang", letting member youths come inside the park as opposed to watching through the actual holes that had been cut in the outfield fence even before the first official game.

The gang was hardly inclusive. It was open only to white boys between seven and sixteen. In return for "signing an agreement of clean sportsmanship and high ideals and morals", they received a membership card at a cost of 25 cents that allowed them admittance to all games except Sundays and holidays.63

61 “The First Game.” Houston Post 30 March 1905 62 “Houston Ball Grounds Being Made Ready.” San Antonio Light 22 August 1915 63 Ankenman p 39

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There was one more major change in store for West End Park in the early 1920s. In April of 1922, team president John H. Crooker finally purchased the bulk of the land on which the ball yard sat. The previous ownership duo of Otto Sens and his partner, Doak Roberts, had bought a small portion of the property in 1918.64 At the same time, the City of Houston released right-of- way claims to the part of the ball park site that had once been platted for streets. In turn the Houston Base Ball Association paid the city ten dollars “and other valuable considerations.”65 Crooker and partners paid $40,010 for the privilege of becoming one of the few minor league clubs in America that completely owned its own grounds.66

Much of this investment in Houston was due to the behind the scenes influence of Branch Rickey, general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals and shadow owner of much of the stock in the . At the end of the ball club’s tenure at West End Park, the Texas League finally relaxed its ban on outside ownership with part of the price exacted from Rickey being the construction of a big, new ball park across town.

West End Park was home to professional baseball in Houston for twenty-three seasons, 1905- 1927. It was during those years that the Texas League finally came into its own, evolving into one of the stronger and more consistent circuits in the minors with the local Buffaloes as one of its most stalwart and successful members.

The Buffs won three league titles at West End and shared two others. It was here, in 1912 and 1913, that they snagged the first back to back pennants in team history followed by a co- championship in 1914.67 The ball park in Fourth Ward was also the location of more major league spring training stays than any other in Houston history.68

64 Harris County Deed Records Vol. 498, p 463-64 Eugenia Flewellen to Houston Base Ball Association; Houston Chronicle 16 April 1922 65 Harris County Deed Records Vol. 498, p 464-65 City of Houston to Houston Base Ball Association 66 Houston Chronicle 16 April 1922; Harris County Deed Records Volume 498, p 463-64 67 O'Neal, Bill. The Texas League. (Eakin Press, 1987); Official Records of the Texas League. http://www.milb.com/history/page.jsp?ymd=20100302&content_id=8648436&vkey=history_l109&fext=.jsp&sid=l 109 68 Vance, Mike, Ed.. Houston Baseball: The Early Years, 1861-1961. Bright Sky Press. 2014. p 319.

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The Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns and St. Louis Cardinals all trained at West End Park, and the majority of big league clubs barnstormed through the venue on their way back north to open their major league seasons.

Some of the best players of the era came through West End. Two of the Buffs own Hall of Famers, and Sunny , plied their trade there.69

The roll call of visiting players who graced the West End dugout includes many all time greats such as Frank “” Baker,70 Chief Bender, Ty Cobb,71 Eddie Collins, Sam Crawford, Hughie Jennings,72 Walter Johnson73, Connie Mack, Christy Mathewson,74 John McGraw,75 , Eddie Plank, Branch Rickey, George Sisler,76 and Rube Waddell77 just to name a few.

In 1928, the Houston Buffs moved to fancy new digs at Calhoun and St. Bernard southeast of downtown, but that didn't mean the immediate demise of West End Park. High school sports continued to prosper there through the 1941 football season as the Houston Board of Education purchased the park for an athletic field just three months after the Buffs left.78

Houston's other pro baseball team that year was the Black Buffs of the Texas-Oklahoma- League, the regional version of the Negro Leagues.79 After a few games renting the new Buff Stadium, Black Buffs owner, James B. Grigsby, realized that profits would be higher if the team continued to play in Fourth Ward with its large African-American population and West End Park's significantly lower rent. The team continued to call the park home for several more seasons and even hosted a "Negro world championship" series there against the Kansas City

69 Ruggles 70 “Buffaloes Mercilessly Batted Off the Earth.” Galveston Daily News 25 March 1912 71 “Tigers Pound Out a Victory from the Giants at Houston.” Galveston Daily News 3 April 1916 72 “Detroit Tigers Were Defeated.” Houston Chronicle 27 March 1910 73 “Winds Didn’t Bother Nationals Yesterday.” Galveston Daily News 9 March 1909 74 “Mathewson was Batted Freely.” Houston Chronicle 20 March 1910 75 “Monroe Poles Out a Home Run; The Score is 10 to 1.” Galveston Daily News 23 March 1921 76 “George Sisler” Galveston Daily News 8 March 1917 77 “O’Connor Lays it Down Straight for Waddell.” Houston Chronicle 15 March 1910 78 “School Board to Buy Old Ball Park.” Daily Court Review 10 July 1928; Harris County Deed Records Volume 761, p 337 79 “Baseball Loop Plans Schedule Parley in City.” Houston Informer 16 March 1929

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Monarchs. 80 By 1933 or ‘34, after being sold twice, the Black Buffs were playing at the much smaller Monarch Field in Fifth Ward.81

It's not surprising that the location of West End Park is largely forgotten today. Its grandstand footprint sits mostly underneath the elevated portion of Interstate 45 as it curves its way around the western edge of downtown. The outfield fences would be found beneath a Center Point power station. Portions of Andrews, Heiner and Howe Streets still exist, but not the intersection that was the center of Houston's baseball universe for most of the early 1900s.

SIGNIFICANCE

West End Park was the second baseball park for the Buffaloes, Houston’s professional Texas League ball club. Opened in April 1905 with the home plate entrance at Andrews and Heiner on the San Felipe street car line, this was the most significant sports venue in the city for over two decades. Many of baseball’s Hall of Fame players, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, and Christy Mathewson, played exhibition games on the West End Park diamond. All- time great Tris Speaker played a full minor league season here in 1907 as a member of the Houston Buffs. Houston’s African-American professional baseball team, the Black Buffaloes, also played their home games at West End Park, continuing for several years after their white counterparts moved. Two famous events billed as the Colored took place here as the Black Buffs faced the Kansas City Monarchs (1929) and the Chicago American Giants (1930). West End Park welcomed many of the Negro League stars of the day including Satchel Paige, Smokey Joe Williams and . From its earliest days, West End Park was a multi-sport venue. The YMCA hosted a statewide track and field meet here in 1909. The park also hosted the circus, wrestling matches, and religious revivals. High school and college football teams played here for many years; highlights included the annual University of Texas and Texas A&M football game as part of the No-Tsu- Oh festival from 1908 through 1911, and Rice vs. Notre Dame in 1915. When the Texas League Buffaloes moved to a new stadium across town in 1928, the Houston School Board bought this property, and it served as the primary high school football venue for the city until World War II.

80 “Houston Plans Street Parade for First Game.” Houston Informer 21 September 1929 81 Liuzza Collection. Privately held in July 2013; Texas Secretary of State. Corporate Charter Number 62041. Houston Black Buffaloes. 15 July 1932

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Action at West End Park in 1917. Courtesy Houston Metropolitan Research Center,

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