Downs-Mabson Fields

The only baseball field that African Americans could play on in Austin before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was Downs Field. A crown of Black culture in Austin, this site has been used by Willie Wells, “Smokey” Joe Williams, Toni Stone, Hilton Smith, Satchel Paige, and the Austin Black Senators. It was also once used as a football stadium for the only Black high school in town. Today, it is a state historic landmark and still undergoing renovations to celebrate the Black cultural significance of what is much more than a simple baseball field.

Located within Six Square, the six square miles where all blacks were segregated to after Austin’s 1928 master plan, Downs-Mabson Fields is a baseball field that has a very significant racial background. The original baseball field and stands were built in 1927, under ownership of Samuel Huston (pronounced Houston) College, and since then, has changed many hands, even being relocated a couple times. It has been renovated twice already, and more renovations are presently underway. More than five Negro League legends played on this field in addition to the Austin Black Senators, the semi-professional Negro League that played in Austin in the 20th century. Currently, Downs-Mabson fields host the Huston-Tillotson University baseball team, is a registered state historical landmark, and a crown of Black culture in Austin.

Decades prior to 1914, this site was used by African American athletes, ultimately being donated in 1914 to Sam Huston College (now Huston-Tillotson University), an HBCU. In 1927, the University built a baseball field on the site for college games. In 1928, Austin released the city master plan, which segregated all blacks in Austin into an area of six square miles east of what is now IH-35, and Downs field was within that region. In 1938, Downs field was sold to L. C. Anderson high school, a school for African American youth. The high school turned the field into Anderson Stadium for their school football team. In 1949, Downs field was built on a new location a mile and a half away, but in 1954, Anderson and Downs field swapped locations, putting Downs field back in its original location. In 1961, Mabson field was built adjacent to Downs field for little league baseball games. Nothing changed about the fields until 2017, when there was an unveiling of the renovated fencing, gate, and murals you see today. Renovations aren’t finished yet, though; the City hopes to recreate the grandstands and add a new scoreboard soon. Downs-Mabson Fields have seen a lot of Austin. If only this field could talk.

The Austin Black Senators of the Texas Negro League played on this field after Sam Huston College built the baseball stadium in 1927. To the right of the gate at the corner of 12th and Alexander are murals of Willie Wells, the greatest shortstop in the world who was called “El Diablo” in Mexico and pioneered baseball helmets, “Smokey” Joe Williams, a legendary fast ball pitcher who once struck out 27 Kansas City Monarchs, Toni Stone, the first woman to play in the American Negro League, Hilton Smith, a pitcher with a mean curveball often overshadowed by Satchel Paige, and Satchel Paige himself, the first African American to pitch the World Series. All the murals were designed in the style of a baseball card from the players’ time period.

Why does this all matter? The ex-head baseball coach at Huston-Tillotson for 35 years, Alvin Moore, recalled that the only place a black person could play baseball during the segregation era was Downs Field. Lee Dawson Jr, who grew up near the field, remembered that people felt safe at Downs. Between 1938 and 1954, high school football games were played between the African Americans of Anderson and other teams from around the city and the state. After 1954, Sunday afternoon semipro baseballs games were the height of many people’s weeks, with everyone dressing up and crowding around the stadium to watch. Willie Hale, a batboy for teams that played on the field in the 1960s, claimed the field was a gathering place that made everyone put aside the pains in life and just feel great. Lee Dawson Jr also recalled that no matter what was happening during a game, everyone would be cheering. Don Anderson, who played football for Anderson High School while located at Downs field, rememberd how the coaches would take so much out of their lives - they juggled a job, a family, coached, and maintained the field. They would also become a father and mentor, and would mold the kids into fine young men while making them better at the game they all loved. Downs field wasn't just a field where Negro legends played or the only baseball field blacks could play during segregation, it was a place for the youth of East Austin to learn to work with others, to respect adults, to lose greacefully, to get back up after falling - all traits required in the real world. Downs Field isn’t just a baseball field, it’s the baseball field for Black culture in Austin.

About Hilton Smith, Smith, Hilton | Baseball Hall of Fame. Accessed May 3rd, 2023. https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/smith-hilton.

About Joe Williams, Williams, Joe | Baseball Hall of Fame. Accessed May 3rd, 2023. https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/williams-joe.

About Satchel Paige, Paige, Satchel | Baseball Hall of Fame. Accessed May 3rd, 2023. https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/paige-satchel.

About Willie Wells, Wells, Willie | Baseball Hall of Fame. Accessed May 3rd, 2023. https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/wells-willie.

Chamy, Michael. El Diablo: Willie Wells and the lost history of black baseball in Austin, July 4th, 2003. Accessed May 3rd, 2023. https://www.austinchronicle.com/sports/2003-07-04/166641/.

Rosengren, John. Toni Stone, Connie Morgan and Mamie Johnson Blazed a Trail for Women in the Negro Leagues, Accessed May 3rd, 2023. https://baseballhall.org/discover/baseball-history/toni-stone-connie-morgan-and-mamie-johnson-blazed-trail-for-women-in-negro-leagues.

Warren, Peter. Downs Field in East Austin Reflects the History of Black Baseball in Texas, July 1st, 2020. Accessed May 3rd, 2023. https://texashighways.com/travel-news/downs-field-east-austin-history-black-baseball/.