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Searching For Current Wooden Baseball Parks? 
See Where They Are Today.

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All of this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

In a search for America's current wooden baseball parks we need to go back to the beginning.

The very first ball park ever built was the wooden baseball park and it was constructed entirely from timber.

That first park was built in honor the game of baseball and would be followed by a breath taking array of Wooden Baseball Stadiums that were the predecessors of today's Modern baseball venues.

·        South End Grounds

·        National League Park

·        Polo Grounds

·        Recreation Park

·        Orioles Park

These parks were among the first Wooden baseball parks built in America.

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Starting as early as 1871 and continuing through 1902 there were over 27, professional, Wooden baseball parks built in America.

These parks, at the time, were majestic Wooden structures that, to many baseball fans, were bigger than life. They were the birth place of the game of baseball and like a child's first tree house they were indelibly itched into our memories.

By the early 1900s the construction industry shifted to the use of Concrete/Steel  and Wood became obsolete in the construction of professional baseball stadiums.

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Are There any Current Wooden Baseball Parks being used Today?

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Baseball stadium construction totally embrace the use of concrete and steel with the rebuilding of the, fire damaged, Baker Bowl in 1894.

These new, more permanent, structures were larger and adorned with more amenities than their Wooden forefathers but there was still something missing.

A special something that was only present within the confines of a Wooden baseball parks.

The game of baseball is an intimate sport and the fans come to look their hero's in the eye and be able to reach out and touch them.

These first parks were built to satisfy that feeling and allowed fans to become part of the game. The calming texture of wood gave the space character and made the parks inviting.

An inquisitive reader posed the question, "Do you know of any current wooden baseball parks still in use today?", and it caught me flat footed.

You would think that in this age of modern construction and high tech building materials that the wooden baseball parks had died completely with the birth of the Baker Bowl.

Fortunately, for us die-hard baseball fans, that is not the case, and thanks go out to Mike from Klamath Falls, OR, USA for his insightful question.

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Wooden Baseball Parks, Saved by "The New Deal"

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The answer to Mike's question, is a resounding Yes.  The WPA has developed and provided a list of current Wooden Ballparks that are still in use today.

Who is the WPA?  A look back at the Great Depression of 1929 we find America in financial shambles. To address the problem President Roosevelt passes a social stimulus program, WPA (Works Progress Administration).

Designed to put people back to work, this program would, single handedly, breath live into Wooden Baseball Park Construction.

The funding from the WPA put skilled workers back to work rebuilding America's infrastructure.

Parks and Recreation refurbishing was part of the New Deal and current wooden baseball parks would benefit greatly from this program and those funds are still being used today.

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Current Wooden Baseball parks
Still in use

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Stadium                             City/State                          Built                      Status

Liberty Park Stadium         Sedalia, MO                       1937                     Amateur 

Jay Littleton Ballpark            Ontario, CA                        1937                     Amateur 

Olympic Stadium                  Hoquiam, WA                    1938                     Amateur 

Denton Field                         Miles City, MT                   1940                     Amateur

Wooden WPA Ballparks Standing
but Idle

Civic Stadium                      Eugene, Or                         1938                     At risk of demolition

Non-WPA Wooden Ballparks
Still Standing

St. Cloud Commons           Huntington, WV                  1910                           Amateur 

    Wahconah Park                         Pittsfield, MA                   1919                           Professional

Hicks Field                          Edenton, NC                           1930                            Amateur 

Simmons Field                    Kenosha, WI                          1933                            Amateur 

Recreation Park                  Wenatchee, WA                    1937                            Amateur 

Quakertown Mem.               Quakertown, PA                  1938                            Amateur 

Kindrick Legion Field            Helena, MT                              1939                            Professional

Ken Waite Field                     Aberdeen, WA                      ?                                Amateur 

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But Wait, There is More

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I would be totally remiss if I did not pay homage to the Wooden baseball Stadiums that gave birth to this article.

·        Kiger Stadium in Klamath Falls, Oregon

Kiger Stadium-klamath falls, OR

Kiger Stadium has captured the magic and has built a love affair with the fans that harkens back to the days of old.

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Unpretentious and straight forward this park is cherished by the fans who come to experience baseball the way it was before corporate sponsors invaded our space.

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This park is a living example of how one of these current Wooden Baseball parks have survived a midst the onslaught of 21st century construction materials by simply giving the fans what they want.

If you have never spent an afternoon watching a baseball game in the warm confines of a Wooden baseball stadium you need to put it on top of  your bucket-list.

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