Dexter Park, a horse race track in Chicago, was constructed after the Civil War. Named after Dexter, a gelding and a trotter who set world records for the mile, it inspired the naming of several towns, including Dexter, Missouri, and Dexter, Texas.
- Venue
- Dexter Park (Chicago)
- Town
- Lake Township, US
Dexter Park, a horse race track in Chicago, was constructed after the Civil War. Named after Dexter, a gelding and a trotter who set world records for the mile, it inspired the naming of several towns, including Dexter, Missouri, and Dexter, Texas. The track officially opened in July 1867. That July, early baseball games at Dexter Park featured a series staged for the touring Washington Nationals. The Nationals had remained undefeated until they faced the Forest City (Rockford) club, which defeated them 29-23. This loss generated excitement for the next day’s game against the Chicago champions, the Excelsior club. The Nationals, however, beat the Excelsiors 49-4. Some Chicago fans and local newspapers accused the Nationals of being “blacklegs,” implying that they had lost to Forest City intentionally to boost interest in the Excelsior match and the accompanying wagering. The Nationals protested, and the newspapers retracted their accusations. Dexter Park served as the home field of the Chicago White Stockings, one of the oldest professional baseball clubs in existence. In 1870, Chicago’s sporting businessmen formed the White Stockings to represent Chicago as the Red Stockings had done for Cincinnati in 1869. The ball field was established within the track’s oval and featured its own small set of bleachers encircling the field. When the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players formed in 1871, the White Stockings joined the new league and relocated to the lakefront, at Union Base-Ball Grounds. That move proved ill-fated, as it put the team's home field in the path of the Great Chicago Fire; the club did not field another professional team for two years while it nursed its financial position. Dexter Park was situated on the west side of 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. The "bird's-eye view" of the stockyards, from ca. 187