Pynchon Park, also known as Hampden Park and League Park, was a sports venue in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...

. It was opened in 1853 by the Hampden Agricultural Society and was destroyed by fire in 1966. The venue hosted various events, including horse racing, bicycle racing, and

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

(including several editions of the

Harvard–Yale football rivalry The Harvard–Yale football rivalry is renewed annually with The Game, an American college football match between the Crimson football team of Harvard University and the Bulldogs football team of Yale University. Though the winner does not t ...

). It also served as home grounds for the

minor-league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

team primarily known as the Springfield Ponies.

Hampden Park

In 1853, the Hampden Agricultural Society paid $15,405 for the land on the site with the intention of creating a venue for the National Trotting Organization to hold its meetings. The facilities were also used for a broader range of recreational activities. With the advent of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, Hampden Park was used as a muster point for the 10th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. The 46th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was primarily recruited in Hampden County In 1885 and 1896, cycling's

hour record The hour record is the record for the longest distance cycled in one hour on a bicycle from a stationary start. Cyclists attempt this record alone on the track without other competitors present. It is considered one of the most prestigious record ...

was unofficially broken multiple times at Hampden Park. Renamed in 1940 for early settler William Pynchon, the park came down in a blaze in 1966.

College football

The Hampden Park Blood Bath

Hampden Park provided a

neutral venue In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to ga ...

between Cambridge and New Haven suitable for the annual Harvard-Yale game between 1889 and 1894, but the 1894 edition led to such violence and injury that the match was suspended for two years. It subsequently became known as the Hampden Park Blood Bath, also known as the Springfield Massacre.

References

{{Reflist College baseball venues in the United States Defunct baseball venues in Massachusetts Sports venues in Springfield, Massachusetts Velodromes in the United States Defunct minor league baseball venues Baseball in Springfield, Massachusetts