8) Joe Campbell Memorial Stadium, Parkway Street off US Hwy 24, Rossville, Kansas (1924, 1924, 19__)
Historical Baseball Park. A vote on an $8,000 bond issue for a city park easily carried in April 1922, and a site just south of the city limits was selected for an 8-acre park. The park site was surveyed in November, but negotiations with the landowner continued through the winter before the bonds were finally issued in March 1923. Work on the baseball field and grandstand began in the spring of 1924. Initially, the diamond was to have been in the northwestern corner of the field, but it was placed in the southeastern corner to provide a better fit for the outfield, which would be 290 feet to right field, while the distances to left and center fields would be “unlimited.” “Practically every carpenter in the city…promised to donate some of their services” in the construction of the grandstand, which was supervised by 2 carpenters who also sat on the City Council. It was to seat 500 people and “have a section back of home base and wings paralleling the first and third base lines.” In the meantime, baseball games continued to be played at the “school diamond.” Rossville defeated Tecumseh 4–3 in the first game played at the new ballpark on Sunday, June 8, 1924.
Perhaps the most prestigious opponent to play at the new ballpark in 1925 was the Kansas City Monarchs, who were soon to play in their second Negro World Series. The Monarchs played 8 games on a brief barnstorming tour through northern Kansas and southern Nebraska during a break in their league schedule, stopping for their final game in Rossville on August 3. Not surprisingly, the Monarchs won, but the score was a respectable 4–1. Rossville’s only run scored “in the second inning when Maupin drove one to right field, ordinarily good for a single, but McNair lost so much time finding the ball in a bunch of weeds Maupin made the circuit.”
The Fourth of July fireworks display at the ballpark in 1928 could have ended in disaster. Sparks accidentally ignited 2 “skyrockets,” which “shot toward the packed grandstand with a roar and a stream of sparks.” One pierced a 1-inch board on the front of the wooden grandstand, and the other went through the wire netting intended to stop only baseballs. There was a momentary panic, but no one was seriously injured, although one woman was badly bruised when hit by a rocket.
Although electricity was installed at the grandstand in 1924, the first floodlights at the City Park were not installed until June 1934, at a cost of about $200 paid by the city and subscriptions from local boosters. Intended primarily for use at softball games, the six reflectors, each with a bulb of 1,500 watts, were placed on as many poles “set in a semicircular formation in the northwest [outfield] section of the ball field” by local volunteers.
Dedicated to the memory of a Rossville baseball pioneer, the stadium features one of the few historical, wooden grandstands remaining in the United States and the only historical, all-wood grandstand in Kansas. The exterior of the covered grandstand is open, exposing the supporting framework. There is no press box, only a built-in table among the seats behind home plate. The infield is all dirt, and the outfield is grass. The outfield fence is chain-link, mostly 6 feet tall, except in right field, where it is 24 feet tall, offering some protection to cars parked at the convenience store just beyond the tree-lined street that borders the fence.
In 2014, the city of Rossville received a Shawnee County Historical Society Preservation Award for its work preserving the historical stadium. Kudos to the members of the local community (a town of only about 1,150 people) currently engaged in efforts to restore and maintain this Kansas baseball gem near Topeka. The park is only 5½ miles north of Interstate Highway 70 at exit 346, across the Kansas River (the bridge deck is metal grate, so be sure to drive slowly when crossing it). Turn right (east) on Parkway Street in Rossville (just past the swimming pool and stone shelter house on your right). The ballpark is down this road on your right, along US Highway 24, next to the high school. It is a great place to watch a collegiate league baseball game, and the ballpark is the summer home of the Rossville Rattlers (Mid-Plains Collegiate Baseball League). [I still need to complete research on the ballpark and grandstand after 1934.] [I attended a game here on a windy 16 June 2014 between the Rossville Rattlers and the Topeka Senators, and I will return to watch more games in 2015.]
Perhaps the most prestigious opponent to play at the new ballpark in 1925 was the Kansas City Monarchs, who were soon to play in their second Negro World Series. The Monarchs played 8 games on a brief barnstorming tour through northern Kansas and southern Nebraska during a break in their league schedule, stopping for their final game in Rossville on August 3. Not surprisingly, the Monarchs won, but the score was a respectable 4–1. Rossville’s only run scored “in the second inning when Maupin drove one to right field, ordinarily good for a single, but McNair lost so much time finding the ball in a bunch of weeds Maupin made the circuit.”
The Fourth of July fireworks display at the ballpark in 1928 could have ended in disaster. Sparks accidentally ignited 2 “skyrockets,” which “shot toward the packed grandstand with a roar and a stream of sparks.” One pierced a 1-inch board on the front of the wooden grandstand, and the other went through the wire netting intended to stop only baseballs. There was a momentary panic, but no one was seriously injured, although one woman was badly bruised when hit by a rocket.
Although electricity was installed at the grandstand in 1924, the first floodlights at the City Park were not installed until June 1934, at a cost of about $200 paid by the city and subscriptions from local boosters. Intended primarily for use at softball games, the six reflectors, each with a bulb of 1,500 watts, were placed on as many poles “set in a semicircular formation in the northwest [outfield] section of the ball field” by local volunteers.
Dedicated to the memory of a Rossville baseball pioneer, the stadium features one of the few historical, wooden grandstands remaining in the United States and the only historical, all-wood grandstand in Kansas. The exterior of the covered grandstand is open, exposing the supporting framework. There is no press box, only a built-in table among the seats behind home plate. The infield is all dirt, and the outfield is grass. The outfield fence is chain-link, mostly 6 feet tall, except in right field, where it is 24 feet tall, offering some protection to cars parked at the convenience store just beyond the tree-lined street that borders the fence.
In 2014, the city of Rossville received a Shawnee County Historical Society Preservation Award for its work preserving the historical stadium. Kudos to the members of the local community (a town of only about 1,150 people) currently engaged in efforts to restore and maintain this Kansas baseball gem near Topeka. The park is only 5½ miles north of Interstate Highway 70 at exit 346, across the Kansas River (the bridge deck is metal grate, so be sure to drive slowly when crossing it). Turn right (east) on Parkway Street in Rossville (just past the swimming pool and stone shelter house on your right). The ballpark is down this road on your right, along US Highway 24, next to the high school. It is a great place to watch a collegiate league baseball game, and the ballpark is the summer home of the Rossville Rattlers (Mid-Plains Collegiate Baseball League). [I still need to complete research on the ballpark and grandstand after 1934.] [I attended a game here on a windy 16 June 2014 between the Rossville Rattlers and the Topeka Senators, and I will return to watch more games in 2015.]
Joe Campbell Stadium, Rossville, KS
Joe Campbell Stadium, Rossville, KS
Joe Campbell Stadium, Rossville, KS
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