Dexter Park was the first home of the Chicago White Stockings , one of the oldest professional baseball clubs in operation . Chicago 's sporting businessmen formed the White Stockings in 1870 to represent Chicago as the Red Stockings had done for Cincinnati in 1869 . When the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players formed in 1871 , the White Stockings joined the new league and relocated to the lakefront , at Union Base-Ball Grounds . That move proved ill-fated , as it put the team 's home field in the path of the Great Chicago Fire ; the club did not field another team for two years while it nursed its financial position
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Dexter Park (Chicago)