10/21/2024
The earliest recorded printed map to locate the site of the world’s first professional baseball game!
Fort Wayne Guide Map.
Cartographer(s): Harvey C. Lowrie
Date: 1871 Place: Chicago
Dimensions: 21.25 x 18 inches
Condition Rating: VG
With an extremely rare depiction of the Kekionga Ball Grounds — the birthplace of professional baseball in America. Harvey C. Lowrie’s Fort Wayne Guide Map of 1871 offers a comprehensive and detailed representation of Fort Wayne, Indiana, at a critical juncture in its history. Created during a period of rapid urbanization and industrial growth, the map captures the intricate layout of the city, showcasing not only its streets and neighborhoods but also key civic institutions, transportation routes, and significant landmarks. Most importantly, this map has a unique place in sports history. It is one of the few surviving documents to pinpoint the location of the Kekionga Ball Grounds, immortalizing the site of the first professional baseball league game, the same year this map was published. No photographs or sketches of the ballpark have survived, and this map is the only known printed document that clearly references the ballpark’s boundaries, giving it a special place in the study of early baseball history. The boundaries of the grounds, located on the west side of the map on the north side of the St. Mary’s River, bounded by Mechanics Street, west of the St. Marys River, are not well known, other than as shown on this map. The area may have included additional property leased by the team, though no surviving documentation clarifies whether specific lots were part of the legal description.
Offered by ABAA-member Neatline Antique Maps and found in their recent catalog "October 2024."
For more info or to view the complete catalog, visit: https://www.abaa.org/blog/post/latest-rare-book-catalogs
