Vaughn Street Park - Early History

Early History

The stadium was built in 1901, financed by E. I. Fuller and C. F. Swigert, two owners of trolley lines that ran nearby. The ballpark was on a block bounded by Northwest Vaughn Street (south), Northwest 24th Avenue (east), and Northwest 25th Avenue (west), with home plate near the southeast corner. The two financiers hoped to profit from professional baseball, both at the box office and via fares from their trolley lines. In 1896, Portland's former professional baseball team had folded; a new team, the Portland Webfoots, debuted in 1901. This team would go on to win the Pacific Northwest League title that year. The following year, the league merged with the California League to become the Pacific Coast League; the Webfooters, after several name change, settled on the name Portland Beavers.

Initially, the stadium had a single 3,000-seat grandstand behind home plate; seating was expanded to 6,000 seats in 1905. That year, Portland hosted the Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition, and the stadium was used for the National Track and Field championships, held concurrently. During that event, baseball was temporarily played on the grounds of the Portland Athletic Club (later the Multnomah Athletic Club), on a field that is now the site of Jeld-Wen Field. With the construction of additional seating in 1912, Vaughn Street Park's capacity grew to 12,000 spectators.