Gainesville slowly grew and modernized after the American Civil War as its railroad depot became the main shipping point for cotton in North Central Florida.

This period of steady development also saw the proliferation of local amateur sports, most notably the athletic programs of Gainesville High School and the East Florida Seminary, which had moved from Ocala in 1866.

To accommodate these teams along with large community gatherings, the city of Gainesville purchased and cleared a field just southwest of downtown in the early 1880s and converted it into a public park with enough room for baseball and other sports and, eventually, a wooden fence to allow events to charge an admission fee.

[2] The National League's Philadelphia Phillies traveled to Florida for spring training before the 1892 season and used The Ballpark for practices and several exhibition games, beginning with a contest against a local amateur club on March 4.

[5][1] In early 1911, the university purchased the wooden bleachers and fence from The Ballpark and moved them to its new on-campus multi-purpose facility at Fleming Field, which quickly became the preferred site for most of Gainesville’s organized sporting events.