LaGrave Field is an abandoned

baseball park A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into two field sections called the infield and the outfield. The infield is an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined in part ba ...

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

. It was primarily used for

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

and was the home field of the

Fort Worth Cats The Fort Worth Cats was a professional baseball team based in Fort Worth, Texas, in the United States. The Cats were a member of the South Division of the now disbanded United League Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseba ...

independent

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

team. Its original version was the home of the predecessor Panthers/Cats team of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

from 1926–1958; the American Association in 1959; and then in the Texas League again in 1964. It also served as the part-time home of the Dallas Rangers during 1960–1962. The ballpark was rebuilt during 2001 and opened in 2002 after the club played one season at Lon Goldstein Field. The ballpark sits on land bounded by a parking lot and then North Calhoun Street (southwest, first base); Northeast 6th Street (if extended) (southeast, right field); Northeast 7th Street (if extended) (northwest, third base); and the banks of a branch of the Trinity River (northeast, left field). The imaginary line running from home plate through second base runs roughly east-southeast. During the team's inaugural 2014 season, LaGrave Field hosted home games for the

Fort Worth Vaqueros FC Fort Worth Vaqueros FC is an American amateur soccer club based in Fort Worth, Texas, which began play in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) in May 2014. The Vaqueros play in the Lone Star Conference of the South Region. The club is based ...

of the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and has automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup. ...

History

LaGrave Field opened in 1926 replacing

Panther Park Panther Park was the name of two ballparks located in Fort Worth, Texas. They were the home fields of the Fort Worth Cats (Texas League), Fort Worth Panthers from 1911 to 1925 and from 1926 onward, respectively. The first park was initially call ...

, which had been opened in 1911, and was located on the "west side of North Main Street, a few blocks from" the eventual LaGrave Field. Panther Park, in turn, had replaced Haines Park, located on the southeast corner of Pine Street and Pacific (now Presidio) Street (per city directories). After winning consecutive

championships during 1919–1925, the club owners decided to build a new ballpark, which was named for the club's principal owner, Paul LaGrave. It turns out that the last year of the old ballpark was also the last year of the Panthers/Cats string of league titles, but the club would go on to win several more league titles in the 1930s and 1940s. Early in the 1949 season, on May 15–16, the ballpark was attacked on several fronts by a destructive fire and then rains and floods. The ballpark was rebuilt and rededicated in time for the 1950 season. After baseball left the city in 1965, the site languished for years, but parts of it remained. When the site was rebuilt during 2001, the original dugouts were retained and renovated as dugout suites, making LaGrave the only ballpark in

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to house "four dugouts".Fort Worth Cats Official Website
The original location of home plate was also retained. Even at that, the ballpark was planned to be only a temporary site, to be replaced by an $8 million

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

stadium owned by the Fort Worth Sports Authority; however that plan never materialized, due to

soil contamination Soil contamination, soil pollution, or land pollution as a part of land degradation is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial activit ...

and

water pollution Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of Body of water, water bodies, with a negative impact on their uses. It is usually a result of human activities. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and ...

at the city-owned site Fort Worth ballparks 1925 11 11

Recent financial challenges

In February 2010, former

owner Carl Bell defaulted on $30 million in notes with LaGrave Field as collateral. Although

Amegy Bank Amegy Bank of Texas (previously known as Southwest Bank of Texas) is an American bank operating in Texas that is a subsidiary of Zions Bancorporation. Operating primarily in Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and central Texas, the bank is headquartere ...

had the right to foreclose on the field and some of the adjacent acreage, the bank did not decide to immediately exercise that right.LaGrave Field not being foreclosed on for now
/ref> Former owner Bell also owed over $195,000

in property taxes and penalties for 2010 and sought a buyer for the stadium A scheduled (January 3, 2012) foreclosure auction was averted due to a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy filing by LaGrave Reconstruction Company Several months later, the debt holder Amegy Bank of Houston finally completed foreclosure and became the landlord of the Cats. On Tuesday, October 2, 2012, it was announced that LaGrave Field had been bought by an affiliate of the team's new ownership group for $4.5 million USD. The Cats eventually folded following the 2014 season. The facility has since been abandoned and vandalized, and in July 2017 the park suffered a fire in a concession stand.

Demolition

In June 2024, the Tarrant Regional Water District board voted to tear down the stadium. The water district included $200,000 for demolition in its 2025 budget. Demolition began in February 2025.

Members of Baseball's Hall of Fame

A sign outside the field states the following information:

Additional uses

* The southeast end of the stadium's parking lot serves as an official parking area for the Tarrant County Courthouse. *

Texas Wesleyan University Texas Wesleyan University is a private Methodist university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was founded in 1890 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The main campus is located in the Polytechnic Heights neighborhood of Fort Worth. Its mascot is ...

, an NAIA University also in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, played home games at LaGrave Field. * LaGrave Field also hosted various community events such as outdoor

concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

Boy Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organizatio ...

campouts and

auto Auto may refer to: Vehicles * An automobile, or car * An autonomous car, a self-driving car * An auto rickshaw Mechanisms * Short for automatic * An automaton * An automatic transmission Media * Auto (art), a form of Portuguese dramatic play * ...

swap meets.

References

External links

A photo of the original LaGrave Field

Anglea Sports Fields
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lagrave Field Sports venues in Fort Worth, Texas Baseball venues in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Minor league baseball venues Soccer venues in Texas National Premier Soccer League stadiums 2002 establishments in Texas Sports venues completed in 2002 College baseball venues in the United States