Dexter Park (Chicago)
Encyclopedia
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. It was named for a gelding
Gelding
A gelding is a castrated horse or other equine such as a donkey or a mule. Castration, and the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male horse to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and potentially more suitable as an everyday...
and trotter
Trotter
Trotter may refer to:* Del Boy, Rodney and Grandad - Fictional Trotter Family from BBC sictom Only Fools and Horses* Clan Trotter, a lowland Scottish family* Trotter, a horse trained for harness racing* Italian Trotter, a breed of horse...
who had set world records for the milehttp://cowboyfrank.net/fortvalley/breeds/Standardbred.htm
and inspired the naming of several new towns including Dexter, Missouri
Dexter, Missouri
-Government:* Mayor: Joe Weber* City Administrator: Mark Stidham* Aldermen:* Ward 1: Jerry Corder, Terry Battles* Ward 2: Kent Essner, Rick Hux* Ward 3: Ray Pixley, John "Kirby" Taylor-Notable residents:* George K. Sisler, Medal of Honor recipient...
and Dexter, Texas.
Dexter Park was the first home of the Chicago White Stockings
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
, one of the oldest professional baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
clubs in operation. Chicago's sporting businessmen formed the White Stockings in 1870 to represent Chicago as the Red Stockings
Cincinnati Red Stockings
The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first fully professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players 1867–1870, a time of a transition that ambitious Cincinnati,...
had done for Cincinnati in 1869. When the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players
National Association of Professional Base Ball Players
The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players , or simply the National Association , was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 season...
formed in 1871, the White Stockings joined the new league and relocated to the lakefront, at Union Base-Ball Grounds
Union Base-Ball Grounds
Union Base-Ball Grounds was a baseball park located in Chicago, Illinois. It was also called White-Stocking Park, as it was the home field of the Chicago White Stockings of the National Association in 1871, after spending the 1870 season as an independent professional club playing home games...
. That move proved ill-fated, as it put the team's home field in the path of the Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S...
; the club did not field another team for two years while it nursed its financial position.
Dexter Park was situated on Halsted Street, between 47th Street to the south and the imaginary line of 42nd Street to the north. This property was owned by, and adjacent to, the Union Stock Yards
Union Stock Yards
The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., or The Yards, was the meat packing district in Chicago for over a century starting in 1865. The district was operated by a group of railroad companies that acquired swampland, and turned it to a centralized processing area...
. The "bird's-eye view" of the stockyards, from ca. 1878, shows part of the race track at the left edge. The track continued to be used for exhibitions until 1934 when it was destroyed by fire. An arena called the International Amphitheater was built on its site. The racetrack was commemorated by a road to the west of the arena, called Dexter Park Street.