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This ballpark has hosted athletic events since the early 20th century. By 1914, local officials began planning for a field to attract a major league baseball team to train in Waxahachie. After various team representatives visited in 1915, local businessmen formed the Waxachie Ball Park Association to raise funds. The Detroit Tigers decided to train here in 1916 if facilities were satisfactory. Builders soon completed the field, known as Jungle Park. It included a grandstand and bleachers, and its field measured 360 feet down both foul lines and 412 feet from home plate to the center field fence. The Tigers trained here in 1916 and 1917, and the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds, as well as the Kansas City Blues of the American Association, followed in subsequent seasons. The Reds won the World Series the year they trained here (1919). The diamond also served as an athletic field for Waxahachie High School. In 1922, when the Chamber of Commerce began managing the property, a flood damaged the site. Although the grandstand was dismantled and rebuilt at the high school campus in 1923, Jungle Park continued to be used by teams, including one organized by the Woodmen of the World; for a time the field was also known as Woodman Park. During World War II, it fell into disrepair until Waxahachie native Paul R. Richards, a major league player and manager, again stirred local interest for baseball. Renamed Paul Richards Park, the field reopened in 1946 with lights for night games and a terrace system to prevent flooding. In following years, many local teams and organizations have used the field, which the school district purchased in 1965. (2007) |
