Riverside Park, Dawson Springs
Encyclopedia
Dawson Springs
' Riverside Park, sometimes called Tradewater Park, was originally built in 1914 to serve as a spring training park for the Pittsburgh Pirates
from 1914 to 1917. This is the only known baseball
park in Kentucky
to have hosted a major league team since the Louisville Colonels
folded in 1899. While the original stadium was destroyed in a 1930's flood, it was later rebuilt in 1999. The park was reconstructed out of wood, just like the original stadium. It is the only ballpark of its kind in Western Kentucky. Riverside Park is now home to the Tradewater Pirates
. Hall of Famer Honus Wagner
, who trained on this field for 3 years, organized a team of local young boys known as "Honus Wagners' Young Recruits." Babe Ruth
, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson
, Casey Stengel
, and Ty Cobb
also played baseball in Dawson Springs.
to make it their spring training home.
Riverside Park was built in 1914
and served as the Spring Training
Home of the Pirates from 1914 until 1917, when moved on to Hot Springs, Arkansas
. The entire ballpark was made entirely from wood. From the grandstand to the dugout, everything in the park was wooden. Local citizens then constructed a large indoor pavilion for spring training and exhibition games and an additional wing was built on the New Century Hotel to accommodate the players. Some records from the era show that the Boston Red Sox
and Cincinnati Reds
also played expedition games there until the early 1920s. Teams came from all around to test the Pirates. They consisted of other major league
squads, American Association
teams, colleges, semi-pro teams, and yes, even teams formed by local mining companies and businesses. Some teams all of the way from St. Louis, Chicago
, Kansas City
, Louisville
, Indianapolis
, Cincinnati and Philadelphia, as well as minor league squads from Columbus, Ohio
and Toledo, Ohio
to play at Riverside Park. However once professional baseball left Dawson Springs; Riverside Park, while still hosting many local teams, among them members of the Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee League
(the Kitty League), continued to provide baseball for western Kentucky.
of the KIT League
. The team was founded in 1999 and joined the KIT League in 2007. The Pirates first game at Riverside came on July 4, 1999. In 2008, the team celebrated its 10th Anniversary. They are currently one of the most respected summer collegiate baseball programs in the nation.
Dawson Springs, Kentucky
Dawson Springs is a city in Caldwell and Hopkins counties in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The population was 2,980 at the 2000 census. It is the birthplace of current governor of Kentucky, Steve L. Beshear. From the late 1800s to the 1930s, Dawson Springs was well known as a spa and resort town...
' Riverside Park, sometimes called Tradewater Park, was originally built in 1914 to serve as a spring training park for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
from 1914 to 1917. This is the only known 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...
park in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
to have hosted a major league team since the Louisville Colonels
Louisville Colonels
The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that played in the American Association throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891, first as the Louisville Eclipse and later as the Louisville Colonels , the latter name derived from the historic Kentucky colonels...
folded in 1899. While the original stadium was destroyed in a 1930's flood, it was later rebuilt in 1999. The park was reconstructed out of wood, just like the original stadium. It is the only ballpark of its kind in Western Kentucky. Riverside Park is now home to the Tradewater Pirates
Tradewater Pirates
The Tradewater Pirates are a summer collegiate baseball team based in Dawson Springs, Kentucky. The team, a member of the Ohio Valley Collegiate Baseball League, plays its home games in Riverside Park, a reconstruction of an entirely wooden stadium used by several major league teams in the early...
. Hall of Famer Honus Wagner
Honus Wagner
-Louisville Colonels:Recognizing his talent, Barrow recommended Wagner to the Louisville Colonels. After some hesitation about his awkward figure, Wagner was signed by the Colonels, where he hit .338 in 61 games....
, who trained on this field for 3 years, organized a team of local young boys known as "Honus Wagners' Young Recruits." Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Joseph Jefferson Jackson , nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American baseball player who played Major League Baseball in the early part of the 20th century...
, Casey Stengel
Casey Stengel
Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel , nicknamed "The Old Perfessor", was an American Major League Baseball outfielder and manager. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in ....
, and Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...
also played baseball in Dawson Springs.
History
Dawson Springs is home to a mineral spring that was believed by many to have medical healing qualities. This led to Dawson Springs becoming a huge resort town. Thousands of people came to drink and bathe in the spring. Forty hotels sprung up to accommodate the health seekers. The large crowds that came to Dawson Springs was one of the reasons for the Pittsburgh PiratesPittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
to make it their spring training home.
Riverside Park was built in 1914
1914 in baseball
-Champions:*World Series: Boston Braves over Philadelphia Athletics -Awards and honors:*Chalmers Award** Eddie Collins, Philadelphia Athletics, 2B** Johnny Evers, Boston Braves, 2B-MLB statistical leaders:-American League final standings:...
and served as the Spring Training
Spring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
Home of the Pirates from 1914 until 1917, when moved on to Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs is the 10th most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Garland County, and the principal city of the Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area encompassing all of Garland County...
. The entire ballpark was made entirely from wood. From the grandstand to the dugout, everything in the park was wooden. Local citizens then constructed a large indoor pavilion for spring training and exhibition games and an additional wing was built on the New Century Hotel to accommodate the players. Some records from the era show that the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
and Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
also played expedition games there until the early 1920s. Teams came from all around to test the Pirates. They consisted of other major league
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
squads, American Association
American Association (20th century)
The American Association was a minor league baseball league at the Triple-A level of baseball in the United States from to and to . Together with the International League, it contested the Junior World Series which determined the championship team in minor league baseball, at least for the...
teams, colleges, semi-pro teams, and yes, even teams formed by local mining companies and businesses. Some teams all of the way from St. Louis, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, Cincinnati and Philadelphia, as well as minor league squads from Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
and Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
to play at Riverside Park. However once professional baseball left Dawson Springs; Riverside Park, while still hosting many local teams, among them members of the Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee League
Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee League
The Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee League was a Class D minor league baseball circuit that went through six different lives. The first KITTY League played from 1903 through 1906. The next one ran from 1910 through 1914. The third try played a single season . The circuit was revived in 1922 and lasted...
(the Kitty League), continued to provide baseball for western Kentucky.
Flood
Sometime in the 1930's a devastating storm flooded a river, that runs alongside the field's first base line, and washed away the entire stadium in a violent flood. In the decades following the flood, residents in Dawson Springs were only left with the memories of ballpark.Rebuilding the park
In 1999 Tradewater Park was rebuilt, as Riverside Park, using the exact blueprints from 1914. Dawson Springs Mayor Stacia Peyton funded a public project to rebuild the park. Public opinion reflected on the need for the city to fund other civic needs instead of rebuilding an old ballpark. However Peyton pressed ahead with plan, knowing how important the ballpark was to the history of the city. The goal of the project was to make the stadium as authentic as possible to the original. Still many locals believed the venture to be a well-intended, but ill-fated. The largest stumbling for the engineers reconstructing the park was using only wood. The seats, roof, and beams are all made from wood, just like in 1914, to create a one-of-a kind ballpark. It is the only completely wooden ballpark in the region.The Tradewater Pirates
The stadium is used today by the Tradewater PiratesTradewater Pirates
The Tradewater Pirates are a summer collegiate baseball team based in Dawson Springs, Kentucky. The team, a member of the Ohio Valley Collegiate Baseball League, plays its home games in Riverside Park, a reconstruction of an entirely wooden stadium used by several major league teams in the early...
of the KIT League
KIT League
The Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee League is a summer collegiate wooden bat league. The league's name is formed from the initials of the states that originally hosted the first iteration of the KIT League...
. The team was founded in 1999 and joined the KIT League in 2007. The Pirates first game at Riverside came on July 4, 1999. In 2008, the team celebrated its 10th Anniversary. They are currently one of the most respected summer collegiate baseball programs in the nation.