History
Browns owner Chris Von der Ahe opened the park as New Sportsman's Park in April 1893 on two city blocks along Natural Bridge Road and Vandeventer Avenue. It was built largely of wood, and fires in 1898 and 1901 destroyed its grandstands.
The Robison brothers took control in 1899, and the park went through several names, becoming Robison Field under Helene Britton and Cardinal Field late in its life. Steel-and-concrete additions in 1909 lifted capacity to roughly 20,000.
The Cardinals left in mid-1920 to share Sportsman's Park with the Browns, playing their last game here on June 6, 1920. The city's school board took over the land, and Beaumont High School opened there in 1926.
Why it matters: It was the Cardinals' home for nearly three decades and one of the last mostly wooden major league parks.
Timeline
- April 27, 1893
Opened with a parade; SABR puts opening-day attendance at 12,230.
- April 16, 1898
A fire during a game against Chicago destroyed the grandstand and injured many spectators; SABR links it to Von der Ahe's bankruptcy.
- May 1901
Another fire destroyed the stands in early May 1901; the club returned to the rebuilt park on June 3.
- 1911
Helene Britton, the first woman to own a major league club, named the park for her family.
- June 6, 1920
The Cardinals beat the Cubs 5-2 before nearly 15,000 in their final game here.
- July 1, 1920
The Cardinals began sharing Sportsman's Park with the Browns.
- 1926Beaumont High School opens[1]
A high school opened on the former ballpark grounds.
The site today
| Physical status | Site redeveloped |
|---|---|
| Current use | Former Beaumont High School building (school opened on the site in 1926 and closed in 2014)[1] |
| Surviving remnants | A SABR marker dedicated in June 2006 at Beaumont High[2] |
| Mapped location | Former venue site |
Street View near the former site · Satellite view (external, current imagery)
Teams & events
| St. Louis Browns | American League · 1893 |
|---|---|
| St. Louis Browns/Perfectos/Cardinals | National League · 1893–1920 |
| Columbus Club | St. Louis Soccer League · 1913–1915 · 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 | New Sportsman's Park (1893–1898); League Park (1899–1910); Cardinal Field (1917–1920); Union Park |
|---|---|
| Location | Block bounded by Natural Bridge Road (north), Prairie Ave. (east), Vandeventer Ave. (west) and Lexington Ave. (south), St. Louis, Missouri[2] |
| Venue type | Ballpark |
| Sports | Baseball, Soccer |
| Level | MLB |
| Opened | April 27, 1893[1,2,3] |
| Last used for sports | June 6, 1920[1,2,3] |
| Demolished | c. 1926 |
| Physical status | Site redeveloped |
| Original capacity | 14,500[1,2] |
| Final capacity | 21,000[1,2] |
| Capacity notes | Wikipedia: 14,500 (1893), 15,200 (1899), 21,000 (1909). SABR: about 15,200 after the 1899 rebuild and at least 20,000 (some sources 21,000) after 1909. |
| Surface | Grass |
| Owner / operator | Chris Von der Ahe; later the Robison brothers and Helene Britton (St. Louis NL club) |
| Closure | The Cardinals moved to Sportsman's Park in July 1920 as tenants of the Browns, and the land was sold for a school. |
Documented details
Connected venues
Sources
- Robison Field, Wikipedia. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: capacity, closed, coordinates, current land use, events, opened, teams
- Robison Field (St. Louis), Society for American Baseball Research (Joan M. Thomas). Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: address, capacity, closed, events, opened, remnants, teams
- Robison Field (STL05), Baseball Data Hub. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: closed, coordinates, opened
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 (2)
- Wikipedia gives demolition only as 'before 1926'; SABR does not give a demolition date.
- Name dates differ slightly: Wikipedia says Robison Field from 1911; SABR says by the 1900 season.
See something wrong or missing? Suggest a correction or submit a source.