Aerial view sometime right after World War II

The ball diamond at 30th and Ames in Omaha has an interesting history of great games and failed possibilities.

In 1939, Omaha was selected to be the host of the American Legion World Series. Fontenelle Park was the site where the Omaha McDevitts representing Omaha American Legion Post # 1 from Creighton Prep won the American Legion Championship. They defeated a team from Berwyn Illinois.

The 1939 Legion World Series started on 31st with Omaha winning the first game 7 to 6. The Berwyn Illinois team won the second game 9-6 ending a 25 game winning streak by the lads from Omaha. The third game took 10 innings as Omaha won 2 to 1. Each of the first three games drew over 8,000 fans each. The fourth game was played on September 3rd in front of 13,000 fans. The Omaha team won 6 to 2 to win the series.

After the war, Omaha was working towards a franchise in the newly resurrected Western League. Fontenelle was one of the leading candidates for the league park but neighborhood opposition forced the league boosters to look elsewhere.

Omaha wound up playing their first seasons in Council Bluffs as the new Municipal Stadium (now Rosenblatt Stadium) was being built.

I do not know when the brick facade seen above was removed. By the 1960's the park had steel grandstands with wood bench type seating.

Recently, due to the efforts of the Omaha North Baseball team and its parents/community, Fontenelle has been resurrected. As you can see the diamond sports a well manicured grass infield.

The park is clean and the grandstands are attractive.

Due to the work of the North High School Baseball community, Fontenelle park is once again a great place to play baseball, with nice stands, an excellent field and an attractive look.

The park pavillion is seen in the background. It is the same building that is seen in the picture at top taken in the late 40's.

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© 2009 Bruce Esser