Hamtramck Stadium

United States historic place

Hamtramck Stadium

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

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Location| 3201 Dan St., Hamtramck, Michigan
Coordinates| 42°23′23″N 83°3′3″W﻿ / ﻿42.38972°N 83.05083°W﻿ / 42.38972; -83.05083
Built| 1930
NRHP reference No.| 12000458[1]
Added to NRHP| July 31, 2012

Hamtramck Stadium, also known as Roesink Stadium is (as of 2012) one of only 12 remaining Negro league baseball stadiums.[2] It is located at 3201 Dan Street, in Veterans Park, in Hamtramck, Michigan. The stadium was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.[1] The stadium is located near, and occasionally confused with, Keyworth Stadium[3] (for example, see Black Baseball in Detroit, p. 59[4]). The stadium was rededicated on June 20, 2022, as part of the Juneteenth celebration. In 2020, the stadium's field was renamed Norman "Turkey" Stearnes Field, after Detroit Stars player Turkey Stearnes.[5]

## Background

[edit]

John A. Roesink moved to Detroit in 1900 and established a successful clothing store.[3] Roesnick was an avid baseball fan, and sponsored a number of semi-pro teams. In 1910, he built a substantial field, Mack Park, on the corner of Mack and Fairview in Detroit to house his teams. Mack Park had seating for perhaps 6,000 people.[3]

In 1919, Rube Foster organized a number of baseball teams featuring black players in northern cities.[3] The Detroit franchise, the Detroit Stars, was owned by Tenny Blount. The team rented Roesink's Mack Park for their games. The 1919 games were a success, so in 1920, Foster organized the Negro National League with nine teams, including the Stars. Initially, the league prospered, and in 1925 Roesink purchased the Stars.[3]

The Stars continued to play at Mack Park.[3] However, in July 1929, the grandstand caught fire when the grounds crew attempted to dry the field. A substantial portion of the structure was destroyed.[3] The Stars played the rest of the season at Mack Park, but the grandstand was not rebuilt.[2]

## Hamtramck Stadium and Negro league baseball

[edit]

In the fall of 1929, Roesink began construction on a baseball park in Hamtramck to replace Mack Park.[2] He leased land near the Grand Trunk Railway tracks from the Detroit Lumber Company. The land was, at the time, an older portion of the Detroit Lumber Company's yard. Roesink spent an estimated $100,000 of his own money to construct the field and grandstands.[2] The park opened in May 1930 for the start of the 1930 season; Roesink hired Ty Cobb to throw out the first pitch.[3]

This was, however, the beginning of the Great Depression. Black fans, angry at Roesnick for the 1929 fire, boycotted the Stars, and Roesnick sold the team after the 1930 season to black racketeer Everitt Watson[6] (although he retained ownership of the stadium).[7] Hard times extended to the rest of the league, and in 1931, the Negro National League completed only half their season before folding.[3]

In 1932, a new Negro league, the East-West League, was founded with the Detroit Wolves as the Detroit franchise. The Wolves played their home games in Hamtramck Stadium; however, the league and the Wolves quickly went bust. The Detroit Stars were reconstituted in 1933, also playing at Hamtramck Stadium, but lasted just one season.[2] In the same year, John Roesnick had tax problems and lost control of Hamtramck Stadium.[8] The fate of the park became an issue in 1935 when Gus Greenlee wanted to move the Nashville Elite Giants to Detroit; with no park available, the franchise wound up in Columbus, Ohio instead.[8] Still, there was one more Negro League season at Hamtramck Stadium in 1937, when the Detroit Stars were again reconstituted. As before, the club folded after a single year.[2]

## Other uses and post-1940 history

[edit]

As with most fields of the era, Hamtramck Stadium was available for rental for other sporting events or activities.[2] The site hosted a number of high school baseball and football games, as well as, in 1934, a football game between Wilberforce University and West Virginia State University, two Historically black colleges and universities.[2]

In the mid-1930s, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) constructed Keyworth Stadium near Hamtramck Stadium.[3] In 1938 (and again in 1946) former lumber company acreage near the stadium was purchased and developed into baseball and softball diamonds, making the area into a recreational campus known as Recreational Park (now Veterans Park).[2]

In 1940, the stadium was acquired by the city of Hamtramck.[9] In 1941, the WPA, in partnership with the Wayne County Road Commission and the city of Hamtramck, renovated Veterans Park, including the Hamtramck Stadium. The project was jointly sponsored by the Wayne County Road Commission and the city. The total cost of the project was $200,000. It is uncertain what the 1941 renovation entailed, but it is certain that at least the steel frame of the grandstand is original.[2]

After this renovation, the stadium was used by church leagues and leagues associated with the nearby Dodge Main plant. Hamtramck High School and teams from both St. Ladislaus High School and St. Florian High School also regularly used the field. Starting in 1953, the field was used by Hamtramck's Little League Baseball teams. Over the years, eleven Hamtramck teams in the various Little League divisions went to their division's World Series, with two winning the title.[2]

In 1955, concession and maintenance buildings were constructed along the field's third base line. In 1973, the grandstand was again renovated, where the roof, seating, and ramps of the grandstand were rebuilt. This renovation reduced the grandstand to approximately half of its original size. Additional renovations carried out in 1976 eliminated portions of the arms extending on each side of the grandstand.[2]

However, as Dodge Main and the Catholic High Schools were closed, the usage of Hamtramck Stadium declined. Some time in the 1990s the grandstand was fenced off, and was not used for decades.[9] In 2012, the Friends of Historic Hamtramck Stadium nonprofit organization was formed to preserve and restore the stadium. Eventually a total of $2.6 million in funding was secured from Wayne County, as well as National Park Service African American Civil Rights grants, the Detroit Tigers Foundation, the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation and the Kresge Foundation. The stadium was renovated, and reopened in June 2022.[10] In 2020, the field was renamed in honor of Turkey Stearnes.[11]

## Significance

[edit]

Hamtramck Stadium is one of only 12 remaining Negro League baseball stadiums.[2] Of those 12, the majority hosted only occasional league games, and only Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, New Jersey and Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama were in use longer than Hamtramck Stadium. At least 16 future members of the Hall of Fame played at Hamtramck Stadium, including Satchel Paige; Josh Gibson; Turkey Stearnes of the Detroit Stars; and Willie Wells, Cool Papa Bell, and Mule Suttles of the Detroit Wolves. The stadium was also the site of the deciding games of the 1930 Negro National League Championship Series, which the Detroit Stars eventually lost to the St. Louis Stars in seven games.

## Description

[edit]

Hamtramck Stadium, as originally built, seated about 8,000 people in the concrete-and-steel grandstand.[2] Most seats were on wooden benches, but a few box seats were separated from the rest by iron rails. Bleachers down the right-field line seat held about 1,000 more people.[2] Later renovations reduced the grandstand to approximately half of its original size, and it now has a seating capacity of approximately 1,500.[2]

The steel frame of the grandstand is original.[2] Grandstand seating begins 6 feet (1.8 m) off the ground, and is accessed via three concrete ramps. The wooden bleacher seats sit on wooden deckes, which are supported by steel I-beams. The I-beam structure continues above the bleachers, and supports a corrugated metal roof. Chain link fences behind the bleachers and atop the roof protected cars from foul balls. As of 2012, a fencing surrounded the grandstand to deter vandals.[2] Although covered with graffiti, the structure is still in good shape.[9]

The field has a relatively short distance to the left field fence from home plate (315 feet (96 m)), contrasted with a deep right field (407 feet (124 m)), and a substantial center field (515 feet (157 m)).[2] The outfield was surrounded by a twelve-foot high corrugated metal fence, a fairly unusual and expensive feature for its time. The fence has now been removed, but the field itself remains unobstructed. The pitcher's mound and flagpole remain from the original field.[2]

* Stadium Images
* View from center field

* Grandstand

* Bleachers

* Grandstand

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 7/30/12 through 8/03/12". National Park Service. August 10, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "NRHP nomination form historical information". Historic Hamtramck Stadium. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Farley, Ren (2009). "Roesink Stadium/Hamtramck Stadium". Detroit1701.org. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
4. ^ Lester, Larry; Miller, Sammy L.; Clark, Dick (2000). Black Baseball in Detroit. Arcadia Publishing. p. 59\. ISBN 0738507075.
5. ^ "Rededication of Hamtramck Stadium". Historic Hamtramck Stadium. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
6. ^ Bak, Richard (1998). A Place for Summer: A Narrative History of Tiger Stadium. Wayne State University Press. p. 144\. ISBN 0814325122.
7. ^ Lester, Larry; Miller, Sammy L.; Clark, Dick (2000). Black Baseball in Detroit. Arcadia Publishing. p. 65\. ISBN 0738507075.
8. ^ a b Lanctot, Neil (2004). Negro League Baseball: The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 46\. ISBN 0812238079.
9. ^ a b c "Historic Hamtramck Stadium listed on National Register". Society of American Baseball Research. August 3, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
10. ^ Roberts, Adrienne (June 21, 2022). "Renovations to Hamtramck Negro League ballpark celebrated with a ceremony, tribute game". Detroit Free Press.
11. ^ Albaugh, Simon (September 10, 2020). ""Turkey" Stearnes Now the Namesake for Nearly Complete Hamtramck Stadium Field". Yemeni American.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Bak, Richard (1995). Turkey Stearnes and the Detroit Stars: The Negro Leagues in Detroit, 1919-1933. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0814325823.
* Lester, Larry; Miller, Sammy L.; Clark, Dick (2000). Black Baseball in Detroit. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0738507075.
* Lanctot, Neil (2004). Negro League Baseball: The Rise and Ruin of a Black Institution. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0812238079.

## External links

[edit]

* Historic Hamtramck Stadium (official website)

* v
* t
* e

Detroit Stars/Wolves/Clowns

Teams|

* Detroit Stars (1919–1931)
* Detroit Wolves (1932)
* Detroit Stars (1933)
* Detroit Stars (1937)
* Detroit Stars (1954–1957)
* Detroit Clowns (1958)
* Detroit Stars (1959)
* Detroit–New Orleans Stars (1960–1961)

Venues|

* Mack Park
* Hamtramck Stadium

Hall of Fame inductees|

* Cool Papa Bell
* Ray Brown
* Oscar Charleston
* Andy Cooper
* Pete Hill
* José Méndez
* Turkey Stearnes
* Mule Suttles
* Willie Wells
* Smokey Joe Williams

Seasons|

* 1919
* 1920
* 1921
* 1922
* 1923
* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1937

* v
* t
* e

National Register of Historic Places in Wayne County, Michigan

Historic districts|

* Annapolis Park Historic District
* Arden Park–East Boston Historic District
* Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church
* Belle Isle Park
* Beverly Road Historic District
* Boston–Edison Historic District
* Broadway Avenue Historic District
* Brush Park Historic District
* Capitol Park Historic District
* Cass–Davenport Historic District
* Cass Park Historic District
* Cherry Hill Historic District
* Church of the Transfiguration Historic District
* Corktown Historic District
* Cultural Center Historic District
* Detroit Financial District
* Eastern Market Historic District
* East Ferry Avenue Historic District
* East Grand Boulevard Historic District
* East River Road Historic District
* Eastside Historic Cemetery District
* Fort Wayne
* Grand Circus Park Historic District
* Greektown Historic District
* Grosse Pointe Academy
* Grosse Pointe South High School
* Helen Newberry Nurses Home
* Highland Heights–Stevens' Subdivision Historic District
* Indian Village Historic District
* Jefferson–Chalmers Historic Business District
* Jefferson Intermediate School
* John and Edna Truesdell Fischer Farmstead
* Jos. Campau Historic District
* Louis G. Redstone Residential Historic District
* Lower Woodward Avenue Historic District
* Medbury's–Grove Lawn Subdivisions Historic District
* Midtown Woodward Historic District
* Michigan Avenue Historic Commercial District
* Monroe Avenue Commercial Buildings
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* Palmer Park Apartment Building Historic District
* Palmer Park Boulevard Apartments District
* Palmer Woods Historic District
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* Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District
* Randolph Street Commercial Buildings Historic District
* Rosedale Gardens Historic District
* Rosedale Park Historic District
* St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Parish Complex
* St. Florian Church
* Springwells Park Historic District
* Sugar Hill Historic District
* Virginia Park Historic District
* Warren–Prentis Historic District
* Washington Boulevard Historic District
* Wayne State University Buildings
* West Canfield Historic District
* West Vernor–Junction Historic District
* West Vernor–Lawndale Historic District
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* West Village Historic District
* Willis–Selden Historic District
* Woodbridge Historic District
* Woodward East Historic District

Historic properties|

* Albert Kahn House
* Alden Park Towers
* Alexander Chapoton House
* Alexander Chene House
* Alger Theater
* Alpha House
* Amity Lodge No. 335 Temple — Spiritual Israel Church and Its Army Temple
* Antietam Street–Grand Trunk Railroad Bridge
* Architects Building
* Arthur M. Parker House
* Bagley Memorial Fountain
* Barlum Tower
* Belcrest Apartments
* Benjamin and Mary Ann Bradford House
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* Birwood Wall
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* Carlton D. Wall House
* Cary Building
* Cass Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church
* Cass Motor Sales
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* Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament
* Central United Methodist Church
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* Chapel of St. Theresa–the Little Flower
* Chatsworth Apartments
* Century Building and Little Theatre
* Charles G. Curtiss Sr. House
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* Checker Cab Taxi Garage and Office Building
* Chestnut Street–Grand Trunk Railroad Bridge
* Christ Church Chapel
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* Detroit Yacht Club
* Dry Dock Engine Works–Detroit Dry Dock Company Complex
* Duane Doty School
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* Eddystone Hotel
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* Edwin Denby High School
* Edwin S. George Building
* Edson, Moore and Company Building
* Eighth Precinct Police Station
* Elisha Taylor House
* El Tovar Apartments
* Elwood Bar
* Elizabeth Cleveland Intermediate School
* Engine House No. 11
* Engine House No. 18
* Ephraim and Emma Woodworth Truesdell House
* Farwell Building
* Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Detroit Branch Building
* Ferry Street–Thorofare Canal Bridge
* Fisher and New Center Buildings
* First Baptist Church of Detroit
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* Frederic M. Sibley Lumber Company Office Building
* Garden Bowl
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* Griswold Building
* Grosse Pointe Memorial Church
* Grosse Pointe Central Library
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* Grosse Pointe Yacht Club
* Hamtramck Stadium
* Harmonie Centre (formerly the Breitmeyer–Tobin Building)
* Henry Ford Hospital
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* Herman Strasburg House
* Hibbard Apartment Building
* Highland Park General Hospital
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* Jefferson Hall
* Jerome H. Remick and Company Building
* John and Eliza Barr Patterson House
* John and Emma Lacey Eberts House
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* John N. Bagley House
* John T. Woodhouse House
* Joseph Campau House
* Kingston Arms Apartments
* Lancaster and Waumbek Apartments
* Lawyers Building
* L. B. King and Company Building
* League of Catholic Women Building
* Lee Plaza Hotel
* Lewis Cass Technical High School
* Lilley Road–Lower Rouge River Bridge
* Lincoln Park Post Office
* Maccabees Building
* Majestic Theater
* Manchester Apartments
* Mariners' Church
* Marwood Apartments
* Marx House
* McKinley Elementary School
* Mellus Newspapers Building
* Merchants Building
* Metropolitan United Methodist Church
* Michigan Bell and Western Electric Warehouse
* Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument
* Michigan State Fair Riding Coliseum, Dairy Cattle Building, and Agricultural Building
* Moross House
* Mulford T. Hunter House
* Nacirema Club
* Nellie Leland School
* New Bethel Baptist Church
* North Woodward Congregational Church
* Orchestra Hall
* Orrin and Roxanne Fairman Kinyon House
* Orson Everitt House
* Ossian H. Sweet House
* Park Avenue House
* Parke-Davis and Company Pharmaceutical Company Plant
* Parke Lane Road–Thorofare Canal Bridge
* Pasadena Apartments
* Paul Harvey Deming House
* Penn Central Station
* Pere Gabriel Richard Elementary School
* Perry McAdow House
* Philetus W. Norris House
* Phillip and Maria Hasselbach Dingledey House
* Pilgrim and Puritan Apartment Complex
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* Pontchartrain Club/Town House Apartments
* Prentis Building and DeRoy Auditorium Complex
* Professional Plaza Tower
* Redford Theatre Building
* Redford Township District No. 5 School
* River Terrace Apartments
* Robert M. and Matilda (Kitch) Grindley House
* Rosa L. (McCauley) and Raymond Parks Flat
* Sacred Heart Major Seminary
* Sacred Heart Church
* St. Albertus Roman Catholic Church
* Saint Andrew's Memorial Episcopal Church
* Ste. Anne Roman Catholic Church Complex
* St. Bonaventure Monastery
* St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church
* St. Catherine of Siena Roman Catholic Church
* St. James Episcopal Church
* St. John's Episcopal Church
* St. John's–St. Luke's Evangelical Church
* St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church
* St. Joseph's Episcopal Church (1883)
* St. Joseph's Episcopal Church (1926)
* St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church
* Saint Paul Catholic Church Complex
* Saint Paul Manor Apartments
* Saints Peter and Paul Academy
* Saints Peter and Paul Church
* Saint Rita Apartments
* St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Roman Catholic Church
* St. Theresa of Avila Roman Catholic Church
* St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church
* Samuel L. Smith House
* Santa Fe Apartments
* Scarab Club
* Second Baptist Church of Detroit
* Sheldon Inn
* Shrine of the Black Madonna of the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church
* Sibley House
* Sidney D. Miller Junior High and High School
* Somerset Apartments
* South Pointe Drive–Frenchman's Creek Bridge
* S. S. Kresge World Headquarters
* Starkweather School
* State Savings Bank
* Stuber–Stone Building
* Sweetest Heart Of Mary Roman Catholic Church
* Temple Baptist Church – King Solomon Baptist Church
* Temple Beth-El (Bonstelle Theatre)
* Temple Beth-El (Bethel Community Transformation Center)
* The Clay School
* The Harmonie Club
* The Kean
* The Palms
* The Players
* The Wardell
* Third Precinct Police Station
* Thomas and Isabella Moore Clyde House
* Thomas and Maria Blackman Bartlett House
* Thomas A. Parker House
* Thomas M. Cooley High School
* Thomas S. Sprague House
* Thompson Home
* Tiger Stadium
* Tivadar and Dorothy Balogh House
* Trinity Episcopal Church
* Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church Complex
* Trinity United Methodist Church
* Tushiyah United Hebrew School – Scott Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church
* US 12 Bridges
* U.S. Post Office, Court House, and Custom House
* United States Immigration Station
* United States Postal Service Roosevelt Park Station
* Vanity Ballroom Building
* Verona Apartments
* Vinton Building
* Waltz Road–Huron River Bridge
* Warren Motor Car Company Building
* Wayne County Building
* Weil and Company – Gabriel Richard Building
* West Jefferson Avenue–Rouge River Bridge
* West Side Dom Polski
* WGPR-TV Studio
* Whittier Hotel
* William and Margot Kessler House
* William B. and Mary Chase Stratton House
* William C. Boydell House
* William H. Wells House
* William Hawkins Ferry House
* Wilson Barn
* Wilson Theatre
* WJBK-TV Studios Building
* Women's City Club
* Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church
* Wyandotte Odd Fellows Temple

National Historic Landmarks|

* Detroit Industry Murals
* Edsel and Eleanor Ford House (Gaukler Pointe)
* Fair Lane
* Fisher Building
* Ford Piquette Avenue Plant
* Ford River Rouge Complex
* Fox Theatre Building
* Highland Park Ford Plant
* General Motors Building
* Guardian Building
* Mies van der Rohe Residential District, Lafayette Park
* McGregor Memorial Conference Center
* Parke-Davis Research Laboratory
* Pewabic Pottery
* The Henry Ford

Former listings|

* Chateau Frontenac Apartments
* Dodge Mansion
* Grand Riviera Theater
* Harper Hospital
* Lincoln Motor Company Plant
* Columbia (steamboat)
* Ste. Claire (steamboat)
* Woodward Avenue Baptist Church

See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Wayne County, Michigan and List of National Historic Landmarks in Michigan
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