History
League Park opened as a wooden park on May 1, 1891, with Cy Young pitching for the National League Spiders. The American League club took it over in 1901. In 1910 the park was rebuilt in concrete and steel, with a right-field fence only 290 feet from home plate.
Under owner James Dunn it was called Dunn Field for several years. It was the setting of Bill Wambsganss' unassisted triple play in the 1920 World Series, which Cleveland won, and of Babe Ruth's 500th home run in 1929.
The Indians played at the far larger Cleveland Stadium from mid-1932 through 1933, split their schedule from 1937 and played their last League Park game on September 21, 1946. The Negro American League's Buckeyes and the NFL's Rams also used the park.
The city bought the park in 1950 and demolished most of it in 1951. The ticket house and part of the first-base wall survived, were listed on the National Register in 1979 and were restored for a community park that opened in August 2014.
Why it matters: It is one of the few former major league parks with original structures still standing, and it was the site of several famous baseball firsts.
Timeline
- May 1, 1891
Cy Young threw the first pitch and the Spiders won 12–3.
- April 21, 1910
The rebuilt park, designed by Osborn Engineering, opened for the 1910 season.
- October 10, 1920Wambsganss' unassisted triple play[1]
In Game 5 of the World Series, Bill Wambsganss made the only unassisted triple play in Series history. Cleveland won the Series.
- August 11, 1929Ruth's 500th home run[1]
Babe Ruth became the first player to reach 500 career home runs.
- September 21, 1946
Cleveland lost 5–3 to Detroit in 11 innings.
- 1951
After buying it in 1950, the city tore down most of the structure but kept the ticket house and part of the wall.
- August 8, 1979National Register listing[1]
The surviving League Park remnants were added to the National Register of Historic Places.
- August 23, 2014
The site reopened as Fannie Lewis Community Park at League Park, with a museum in the old ticket house.
The site today
| Physical status | Partially demolished[1,2] |
|---|---|
| Current use | Fannie Lewis Community Park at League Park, a city recreation site with a ballfield, and the Baseball Heritage Museum in the restored ticket house (reopened 2014)[1,2] |
| Surviving remnants | The 1909–10 ticket house and a section of the brick facade/wall along the first-base (right-field) line.[1,2] |
| Mapped location | Former venue site |
Street View near the former site · Satellite view (external, current imagery)
Teams & events
| Cleveland Spiders | National League · 1891–1899 |
|---|---|
| Cleveland Indians | American League · 1901–1946 |
| Cleveland Rams | NFL · 1937–1945 · tenant |
| Cleveland Buckeyes | Negro American League · 1942–1950 · tenant |
Listed here are organizations that used this physical venue. A franchise's history and a venue's history are tracked separately.
Venue facts
| Other names | Dunn Field (1921–1927) |
|---|---|
| Location | E. 66th St. (formerly Dunham St.) and Lexington Ave., Hough neighborhood, Cleveland, Ohio[1,2] |
| Venue type | Ballpark |
| Sports | Baseball, Football |
| Level | MLB, NFL, Negro Leagues |
| Opened | May 1, 1891[1,2] |
| Last used for sports | September 21, 1946[1,2] |
| Demolished | 1951[1,2] |
| Physical status | Partially demolished |
| Original capacity | 9,000[1,2] |
| Final capacity | 22,500[1,2] |
| Capacity notes | 9,000 in the 1891 wooden park. After the 1910 rebuild, Wikipedia gives 21,414 and SABR up to 24,414. Wikipedia's final capacity is 22,500. |
| Architect | Osborn Engineering (1910 rebuild); the NRHP nomination credits Charles S. Schneider[1,2] |
| Surface | Grass |
| Owner / operator | Cleveland club owners (Spiders, then Indians); sold to the City of Cleveland in March 1950 |
| Closure | The Indians moved their home games to the larger Cleveland Stadium. The city then bought the old park and demolished most of it. |
Documented details
Connected venues
Sources
- League Park, Wikipedia. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: address, architect, capacity, closed, coordinates, current land use, demolished, events, opened, remnants, teams
- League Park (Cleveland), Society for American Baseball Research (Bill Johnson). Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: address, architect, capacity, closed, current land use, demolished, opened, remnants
Research confidence
Key facts on this page (opening, closing, status and location) are each supported by sources, with key dates corroborated by at least two independent sources. Last reviewed 2026-10-19.
Where sources disagree (4)
- Dunn Field years: Wikipedia 1921–1927 vs SABR 1916–1927.
- Capacity after the 1910 rebuild: Wikipedia 21,414 vs SABR up to 24,414.
- Architect: the Wikipedia infobox credits Osborn Engineering, and the NRHP entry it cites lists Charles S. Schneider.
- Wikipedia has two slightly different coordinate pairs (41.51139 and 41.51167 N, both -81.64417 W); the first is used.
See something wrong or missing? Suggest a correction or submit a source.