South Side Park was the name used for three different baseball parks that formerly stood in Chicago, Illinois, at different times, and whose sites were all just a few blocks away from each other. South Side Park I (1884) The first South Side Park was the home of the short-lived Chicago Browns entry in the Union Association of 1884. The venue was also called Union Base Ball Park and 39th Street Grounds in local newspapers. Indications are that the ballpark was on a block bounded by 39th Street (south); South Wabash Avenue (west); 38th Street (north); and South Michigan Avenue (east). The Unions played 35 games at this park between May 2 and August 1. The papers indicated they were then headed on a three-week road trip. After that road trip, they re-emerged as the Pittsburgh entry, which played five home games at Exposition Park before taking to the road for the last few weeks of their existence. There are no known photos or illustrations of the ballpark, and it does not appear in contemporary maps or city directories. The meager descriptions of the ballpark require some research to pin down its precise location. The ballpark was built in the summer of 1883. The Chicago Tribune of June 17, 1883, p. 9, gives the location of the new park as "Thirty-ninth Street, between Michigan and Wabash Avenues." The corner of 39th and Wabash is stated as the main entrance. That leaves the question of the northern boundary, which is given in the reports of a tragedy described in Tribune articles from July 20, 1884, p. 15; and from July 21, 1884, p. 8. The ball club had some fireworks left over from July 4, and they conducted a show on the night of the 19th, to use them up. One of the aerial bombs failed to explode in flight, and came down hard on a resident of 3800 South Michigan Avenue, killing her. The house, on the southwest corner of 38th and Michigan, was reported to stand "close behind the inclosure" of the ballpark. That indicates 38th as the northern boundary of the ballpark. The park fell into disuse once the Union Association abandoned Chicago. The last reference to it in local newspapers came in the winter of 1884-1885 when the Chicago National League club was shopping around for a new location after having been driven from their lakefront ballpark.