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(10) Dallas / Optimist Park
(DALLAS) OPTIMIST PARK 1949-
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In 1949, the Optimist Club purchased Dallas Park from Dallas Mills, erected lights, and renamed
it Optimist Park. The close of the cotton mills ended the mil 1-team era, though sem i-pro baseball returned with Leroy McCollum's Huntsville Boosters (1950-53). The park, one of the few early ball parks open to all races, was used during the 1950's and 1960's for exhibition games by the Birmingham Black Barons and other Negro League teams. With the Park renovated and reopened (1994) by the City of
Huntsville, baseball returned to Optimist Park, the self proclaimed "Friend of Youth."
ALABAMA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 1994
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Ballgame at Dallas/Optimist Park (before 1955)
