In 1878, the Providence Base Ball Association formed and began scouting around the city for a good location for "the best baseball plant in the country."

Team directors visited the old Josiah Chapin farm on city's west side and decided that it fit all of the requirements for a baseball park.

Construction on Messer Park began on April 1 and took exactly one month to complete; the final nail was hammered a mere five minutes before the opening game got underway on May 1.

Only eight home runs were hit there in National League games all year long, compared to about two hundred at Chicago's tiny park.

Just beyond the short left field lay a building where fans could sit on the roof and watch the game for the discounted rate of 25 cents, probably to the chagrin of the team management.

The screens were installed in 1878 along the grandstand section directly behind the catcher, an area known as the "slaughter pens" for all the foul ball injuries that occurred there.

Finally, "some elaborate pictures have been obtained by Director Allen, measuring 7 x 13 feet (4.0 m), giving a life-size illustration of the diamond and a game in progress, which will be displayed on prominent boards on schedule days."

On February 16, 1887, trustee Greene finally sold off the property that the Messer Street Grounds sat on, in a deed to the Franklin Institute for Savings.

By the end of the year, the subdivided plots were selling off at a rapid clip, and houses started to spring up where the old ball park used to stand.