Compton Park

Compton Park was the home of the St. Louis Red Stockings during their brief stint in the National Association in 1875. The view above is an artist's rendering of a bird's-eye view, published in 1875 as part of a full survey of St. Louis at that time. The park is marked by the number 4 in the center of the field. Compton Avenue runs along the first base line, while Manchester is located just a few blocks to the south (off the left edge), running perpendicular to Compton. Joan Thomas reports in St. Louis' Big League Ballparks that the park held about 1000 people, but that 4000 people were reported to have watched a game there hosted by a champion African American club, the St. Louis Black Stocking, in June 1883.

Green Cathedrals, by Phillip Lowry, reports that the park was first built in 1874, although the site hosted games prior to then. It was known as Red Stockings Park until 1885, when it was renamed Compton Park. It was torn down in 1898. The site is now a Bi-State (Metro) repair facility, just west of the Compton Avenue viaduct.

A site just north of Red Stockings Park, at Compton and North Market, was later used by several Negro League clubs during the 1920's and 1930's, including the 1928 NNL Champion St. Louis Stars. The park there was known as Stars Park. This site is now owned by Harris-Stowe college.

The image is taken from Compton and Dry's pictorial atlas of St. Louis, published in 1875. I scanned this image from a reproduction in "Diamonds: The Evolution of the Ballpark" by Michael Gershman (1993). His book is a wonderful discussion of the ballpark through the years, with plenty of focus on the fields used as baseball developed from an ametuer pasttime into the full business. I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about how baseball and the baseball field developed hand in hand.