Haygood Field (1919)

On May 12, 1919, the College completed a transaction to purchase a new athletic field from Board of Trustee member W. E. Barkman, his wife Florence R. Barkman, and his sister Mrs. Leila Caddo McCabe. This property was just across Tenth Street next to the College and about a block nearer than the old athletic field. The athletic field was to used by all sports.

Despite the successful purchase of the property, construction on the new athletic field was delayed for nearly two years. Complaints appeared in the March 8, 1921 edition of the Oracle, and one writer wrote, "We have a vacant lot out there and with the grandstand gone only those back-breaking things called bleachers were at the field. The field is very rough and it is far from what might be called a respectable [baseball] diamond." Coach Jimmy Haygood had several of the athletes construct fences around the new athletic field. For the work the athletes could not complete, the College hired carpenters to complete a high oak fence around the playing field, and to erect on the north side of the field a grandstand with a seating capacity of 700. Additional bleachers provided a seating capacity of about 2,000 spectators. In October of 1927, under the personal attention of President Hornaday, Haygood Athletic Field was "rapidly acquiring a polished finish" at last. The President had asked for volunteers "to clear out the veritable jungle which almost surrounded the field." Thirteen men responded to the call with hoes and rakes. In addition to the clean-up campaign, other workers repaired the grandstand and installed new bleachers.

Play on this second Haygood Field continued until 1932, when Henderson, Ouachita, and Arkadelphia High School all shared Ouachita's A. U. Williams Field. In 1936, with assistance from the Works Progress Administration, Henderson constructed a new stadium on the site.