23rd Street Grounds, also known as State Street Grounds and 23rd Street Park, and sometimes spelled out as Twenty-third Street Grounds, was a ballpark in Chicago, in what is now the Chinatown district. In this ballpark, the Chicago White Stockings played baseball from 1874 to 1877, the first two years in the National Association and the latter two in the National League. The 1871 Great Chicago Fire had put the original White Stockings club out of business, and its best players scattered to other National Association clubs. For 1872, the Chicago Base Ball Association was formed, with the intention of eventually fielding a new Chicago ball club, which it finally did in 1874. Until then, they staged some games figuring to get good attendance and some revenue. In early May, the organization built a new grounds "on 23rd Street near State Street", with the inaugural game coming on May 29, Baltimore defeating Cleveland 5–2. The land was owned by Charles Follansbee. 23rd Street hosted a total of eight National Association games during 1872–1873, along with other contests. The Cleveland and Troy clubs played two and four home games there, respectively, in 1872, when they were struggling economically (both eventually went out of business). The Boston Red Stockings played one in August of 1873 when they were flourishing. Their opponent was the Philadelphia club, and the two clubs played there again a few days later, swapping "home" and "visitor" roles. Location The grounds occupied a city block well south and east of the 1871 fire's origin on DeKoven Street. Several modern sources say it was bounded by 23rd Street, State Street, 22nd Street (now Cermak Road) and what is now Federal Street. This location is inconsistent with contemporary city directories and newspapers. The directories say: 1872: 23rd southwest corner of Burnside [an extension of Dearborn Street] 1873: not listed 1874: west side of State Street between 23rd and 24th 1875, 1876, 1877: west side of Dearborn Street between 23rd and 24th Newspapers varied in naming the location as 23rd (usually spelled out as "Twenty-third") and State, 23rd "near" State or 23rd "west of" State. State was touted as the best thoroughfare to get to the park. The Chicago Inter Ocean for April 20, 1872, p. 6, gave a few details about the ballpark, and specifically stated its location was to be "between Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Streets, on Burnside Street, extending [west]