Perry Park
Perry Park in Keokuk, Iowa was one of those old-school baseball grounds where pro ball briefly touched the western edge of the country — built around 1874 and best remembered for hosting the Keokuk Westerns during the 1875 season of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, which many baseball historians count as a major league. At Perry Park, the Westerns kicked off their season on May 4, 1875 against the Chicago White Stockings and played their final game there on June 14, 1875, after which the short-lived club folded with a tough record. Though that pro chapter was fleeting, Perry Park stands as a neat footnote in baseball lore — a simple field in a quiet Iowa town where some of the earliest organized pro ball in the Midwest was played.