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Faucette Park

Faucette Park was a baseball park located at the southwest corner 4th and Willow Streets in Argenta, AR. The field was home of the Argenta Shamrocks from 1908-1909 and the Negro Little Rock Tigers in 1909 Argenta Grays from 1910-1911. The field was also used by the St. Paul Saints for spring training in 1909. See Spring Training in Argenta.

History

Faucette Park was built in 1908 to host the Argenta Shamrocks of the upstart Arkansas State League. After leasing the land from the Iron Mountain railroad, work to build a fence, diamond, bleachers and grandstand began in March.1 The rapidly constructed ballpark opened on April 24th and was dedicated in honor of Argenta Mayor William C. Faucette, who had played a vital role in securing the land for the ballpark.2 With a seating capacity of only about 500, Faucette Park was modest but well located, situated not far from the pedestrian Free Bridge that connected Argenta with Little Rock.

In the spring of 1909, Faucette Park was the spring training site of the St. Paul Saints of the American Association. The Argenta Shamrocks continued to play in Faucette Park until the Arkansas State League folded in July 1909. Afterward, the ballpark became home to the Negro Little Rock Tigers in 1909 and the Argenta Grays from 1910-1911. In March and April of 1910, the Grays played a series exhibition games against the Chicago Leland Giants, who featured Hall of Famers Rube Foster, Pete Hill and Pop Lloyd.

Faucette Park also hosted an exhibition game on March 15th, 1909, between two squads of the St. Louis Cardinals, who were training in nearby Little Rock. The game was a benefit to the survivors of tornado in Brinkley, AR.

Faucette Park was razed in 1911 and the Argenta High School was built on the site.3 Today the site is directly next to Dickey-Stephens Park, home of the Arkansas Travelers.

Exhibitions

The following is a list of notable exhibitions played at Faucette Park

March 15th, 1909
St. Louis Cardinals vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Faucette Park, Argenta, AR4

Inning 123456789R
Mikes0 4 2 0 0 3 0 0 0 9
Breshnahans0 1 0 0 0 00 0 0 1

Attendance: 500

March 16th, 1909
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Argenta Shamrocks
Faucette Park, Argenta, AR

Inning123456789R
St. Louis Cardinals
Argenta Shamrocks


March 30th, 1910
Chicago Leland Giants vs. Argenta Grays
Faucette Park, Argenta, AR5

Inning123456789R
Leland Giants3003010108
Argenta Grays0000010001


April 17th, 1910
Chicago Leland Giants vs. Argenta Grays
Faucette Park, Argenta, AR6

Inning123456789R
Leland Giants30300200311
Argenta Grays2000000002


April 18th, 1910
Chicago Leland Giants vs. Argenta Grays
Faucette Park, Argenta, AR7

Inning123456789R
Leland Giants0000060028
Argenta Grays2000000002


April 19th, 1910
Chicago Leland Giants vs. Argenta Grays
Faucette Park, Argenta, AR8

Inning123456789R
Leland Giants45031000114
Argenta Grays0020001014

Excerpts

"Mayor W. C. Faucette, after declaring that he would willingly visit the railroad officials and secure for the club the use of the grounds at Fourth and Willow streets, was appointed a committee of one to attend to this duty. . . . The initial expenses will be the construction of a grandstand, diamond and fence, and the uniforms and equipment. It was shown that vast amount of advertising space on the fence could be sold, getting some of the money back on the start."9

"Mayor Faucette, who was made a committee of one to secure the grounds for a ball park, has reported his work completed. The grounds at Fourth and Willow will be used. The grandstand will likely be located at the west end of the grounds and work will be commenced just as soon as the new company has been organized."10

"Improvements will soon begin on the site of the diamond to be located at the corner of Fourth and Willow streets. It is thought that the expenses will amount to nearly $1,500, which will be enough to shave off the diamond, fence the grounds and built a grandstand that will seat half a thousand people."11

"Little Miss Dorothy Butler, daughter of C. G. Butler, president of the Argenta club, marched to the home plate and, pouring on the place a portion of the contents of bottle of the brew that Milwaukee famous, christened the new park “Faucette park,” which, in the words of a rooter, “wasn’t a bad turn at the start.” Caps off, the Shamrocks stood attention and the crowd roared applause at the little golden-haired fan as she went back to her mother, who watched the game from the stand. Governor Pindall, Judge Kavanaugh, Secretary A. Clark Miller, Aaron Frank, George R. Brown and other Little Rock fans mingled with their Argenta brethren. Mayor W. C. Faucette walked to the middle of the diamond, shook hands with umpire Mr. Gamphor, and hurled the first ball across the place. Lawton Green, the clever little third baseman of the Pine Bluffers, swung wild; and amid more cheers, Mayor Faucette returned to a point of vantage to watch the game, which began when the white-suited Shamrocks ran to their positions with a show of pepper."12

"The work of removing the schoolhouse formerly located on West Second street, to the ball park on Fourth and Willow streets, is almost complete."13
1 Arkansas Gazette, 3/17/1908, p.12
2 Arkansas Gazette, 4/25/1908, p.8
3 Arkansas Gazette, 9/12/1911, p. 14
4 Arkansas Gazette, 3/16/1909, p.8
5 Arkansas Gazette, 4/1/1910, p.8
6 Arkansas Gazette, 4/18/1910, p.8
7 Arkansas Gazette, 4/19/1910, p.8
8 Arkansas Gazette, 4/20/1910, p.9
9 Arkansas Gazette, 3/7/1908, p.8
10 Arkansas Gazette, 3/10/1908, p.12
11 Arkansas Gazette, 3/17/1908, p.12
12 Arkansas Gazette, 4/25/1908, p.8
13 Arkansas Gazette, 9/12/1911, p. 14