Wolfson Park
former baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida
Samuel W. Wolfson Baseball Park (originally Jacksonville Baseball Park) was a baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida. It stood from 1954 until 2002, when it was demolished and replaced by the new Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. During that time it was home to all of Jacksonville's minor league baseball teams, including the Jacksonville Braves (1955–1960), the Jacksonville Jets (1961), and the Jacksonville Suns (1962–1968 and 1970–2002). It had a seating capacity of 8,200 and was named for local baseball owner Samuel W. Wolfson.
History
The facility, originally known as Jacksonville Baseball Parka, was built in 1954 at a cost of $400,000 to replace the aging Durkee Field. It was intended to be the new home stadium of Jacksonville's minor league team, the Jacksonville Braves of the South Atlantic League. One of the major proponents of the stadium was Braves owner Samuel W. Wolfson, a local businessman. Wolfson had purchased the struggling Jacksonville Tars franchise and reorganized them as the Braves prior to the 1953 season.
The new park opened on March 16, 1955, with an exhibition game between the Washington Senators (now the Minnesota Twins) and the Cincinnati Redlegs. According to H. B. Richardson, Jacksonville Braves general manager at the time, "When the new park opened, it was the best park in the (Double-A) South Atlantic League and probably better than most (Triple-A) Southern League parks at the time.
The public source identifies “Wolfson Park” as former baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Wolfson, Park and former.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Wolfson Park”, the useful work is to connect “former baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8030219. Authority coordinates are 30.326, -81.640. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1954, 2002, 1955 and 1960.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Wolfson Park”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Wolfson Park primary sources, Wolfson Park archive and Wolfson research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Wolfson Park”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Wolfson Park” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.