{{Short description|Park in Houston, Texas, US}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} thumb|Park entrance thumb|MacGregor Monument at MacGregor Park '''MacGregor Park-Neagle Field''' is a park and baseball venue in the Third Ward,<ref>{{cite news|author=Franklin, Cynthia Coleman|url=https://www.chron.com/news/article/MacGregor-Park-to-get-1-million-in-upgrades-1932653.php|title=MacGregor Park to get $1 million in upgrades|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=2005-03-31|accessdate=2019-06-04|quote=[...]MacGregor Park in Houston's Third Ward[...]}}</ref> Houston, Texas, and the home field of the Texas Southern Tigers baseball team.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ibcsports.com/baseball/2002/INDEXl_2001-02.htm|title=Index-2001-02}}</ref> The Tigers are a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://geocities.com/tsufb/bb/ |title=TSU Athletics Online - Baseball |website=geocities.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027112533/http://geocities.com/tsufb/bb/ |archive-date=27 October 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

A 42-acre section of the park is owned by the University of Houston.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uh.edu/af/universityservices/realestate/availspace.htm|title = Available Properties}}</ref>

Riverside Terrace is adjacent to the park.<ref name=Fairchildetalp17>Fairchild, Harwell, and MacDougal, p. 17.</ref>

==History== It was named after Henry Frederick MacGregor, who was from Derry, New Hampshire, and had ancestry from Northern Ireland<!--Derry is in Northern Ireland-->.<ref name=Fairchildetalp17/>

MacGregor conceptualized a park in the area, with the Brays Bayou being used as a path from Hermann Park to his new park; he died in 1923 before he could see the park completed.<ref name=Dansby>{{cite news|author=Dansby, Andrew|url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/entertainment/music/article/Bringing-back-the-magic-of-Sundays-in-MacGregor-7253197.php|title=Bringing back the magic of Sundays in MacGregor Park|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=2016-04-16|accessdate=2018-04-22}}</ref> His estate gave the city government the money to establish the park,<ref>Fairchild, Harwell, and MacDougal, p. 15.</ref> and his widow, Elizabeth "Peggy" MacGregor, donated the land.<ref name=Fairchildetalp16>Fairchild, Harwell, and MacDougal, p. 16.</ref> Will Hogg donated trees to form a World War I memorial, the War Mothers Memorial. The 1926 land survey was done by Howe & Wise, Engineers employee R. O. Bosworth. Hare & Hare developed the park throughout the mid-20th century.<ref name=Fairchildetalp17/> The current park has a focus on recreational activities while MacGregor's original vision emphasized it being a space for nature.<ref name=Dansby/>

Due to demographic changes in the mid-20th century, the surrounding areas became majority African-American.<ref name=Fairchildetalp17/> MacGregor Park was a popular gathering spot for African-American youth in the late 1980s and the early 1990s,<ref name="O'Hare">O'Hare, Peggy. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20121028025304/http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2001_3297082 Police try to limit cruising on MLK / Some in area dislike the traffic; others say it fosters community]." ''Houston Chronicle''. Monday April 16, 2001. A17. Retrieved on May 27, 2012.</ref> and they typically pursued recreation on Sundays. The police closed the park temporarily after a 1992 shooting. Andrew Dansby of the ''Houston Chronicle'' wrote in 2016 that "Those big Sundays never returned in quite the same way, though MacGregor remained a neighborhood touchstone."<ref name=Dansby/>

A hip hop show occurred in 2001.<ref name=Dansby/> Texas Parks and Wildlife Department gave a $1 million grant that resulted in a 2005 renovation. In 2009 the Parks To Standards program of the city government resulted in $600,000 worth of enhancements.<ref name=Fairchildetalp18>Fairchild, Harwell, and MacDougal, p. 18.</ref> A car parade ending at MacGregor, called the SLAB parade, began in 2013.<ref name=Dansby/>

==Features== [[File:TXSUvsUAPBBaseball32722-45.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Texas Southern Tigers baseball players salute the crowd gathered at MacGregor Park during a game in 2022.]] The park has {{convert|82.79|acre|ha}} of land.<ref name=Houstonparkprofile>"[http://www.houstontx.gov/parks/parksites/macgregorpark.html MacGregor Park]." City of Houston. Retrieved on April 22, 2018.</ref> It has an outdoor basketball court, a disc-style golf course with 18 holes, a hike and bicycle trail that is {{convert|1.25|mi|km}} long, a meeting room, a sports field with lighting, a swimming pool, and a weight room.<ref name=Fairchildetalp18/>

William Ward Watkin designed a memorial stone for MacGregor, located at the park.<ref name=Fairchildetalp17/>

A statue of Peggy MacGregor as a young woman,<ref name=Fairchildetalp17/> made by Gutzon Borglum and commissioned by Henry MacGregor,<ref name=Fairchildetalp16/> was created in 1927; it was moved to the park and restored by the city government's Municipal Art Commission in 1997.<ref name=Fairchildetalp17/>

John Wilkerson established the MacGregor Park Junior Tennis Program.<ref name=Fairchildetalp18/>

==Transportation== The METRORail station MacGregor Park/Martin Luther King Jr. is in proximity to the park.

==Cultural legacy== Andrew Dansby of the ''Houston Chronicle'' wrote that due to the park's use by sports figures and in hip-hop culture, "MacGregor Park has a storied place in Houston culture."<ref name=Dansby/>

Songs about MacGregor Park include the 1985 song "MacGregor Park" with writing attribution to Robert Harlan and by "the L.A. Rapper," as well as the 2015 song "MacGregor Park" by Fat Tony.<ref name=Dansby/>

==See also== {{Portal|Texas|Baseball|Texas<!--State university-->}} * List of NCAA Division I baseball venues

==References== * Fairchild, John, Debbie Harwell, and Steph McDougal. "[https://houstonhistorymagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/MacGregor-Park.pdf MacGregor Park, a Gift to Houston]." ''Houston History Magazine''. Volume 11, No. 3. pp.&nbsp;15–19.

===Notes=== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} * [http://www.houstontx.gov/parks/parksites/macgregorpark.html MacGregor Park] - City of Houston {{coord|29.708199|-95.341593|display=title}} {{Third Ward, Houston}} {{Southwestern Athletic Conference baseball venue navbox}} {{Texas NCAA Division I college baseball venue navbox}} {{Texas Southern University}}

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Category:Parks in Houston<!--General use--> Category:Third Ward, Houston Category:Baseball venues in Houston Category:Texas Southern University Category:Texas Southern Tigers baseball Category:College baseball venues in Texas