Willie Bell Park: ballplayer's legacy lives
By KRIS BAGLEY

Located along West 2nd Street is a park dedicated to a professional baseball player and an El Campo icon - William "Willie" Bell.

Bell played on several baseball teams in the Negro Leagues during 1923-1935 as a pitcher and outfielder. He played for teams including the Kansas City Monarchs, Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords and coached the Newark Eagles in 1936-37 and 1948.

Well before the land officially became Willie Bell Park, it was leased by Bell and used for something completely different.

"It was where he had his cows," Mary Bell, the baseball player's daughter, said. "He leased that property from a family here in town and he would put his cows out there. That's where they roamed. They called it the Bullpatch."

In the early 1950s through the early '60s on Sunday afternoons, the Bullpatch transformed into a venue for old-timers and eventually children to play baseball.

"This was every Sunday," Bell said. "There were people that would come and Daddy would introduce them like, 'I used to play with this guy when we were in Philadelphia.'

"Eventually after those old Sundays where they played baseball out in the park, he started a youth league team because in those days there was no Little League for little black boys. So he'd scrounge up uniforms and shoes and socks for them, matching."

Now, the park commemorates the man who lifted up El Campo's African American youth. Bell, who died in 1969, is reflected today in youth playing in what was once known as the Bullpatch - now Willie Bell Park.

Other parks include:

• Friendship Park - on North Wharton Street, has soccer fields, playground area, walking track, restrooms and more.

• Rotary Park - on East Jackson Street haswalking track with fitness stations, play area, ball fields, restrooms and more.

• Evans Park - located on East Monseratte, features a gazebo pavilion, park benches, a small grandstand and fountain.

• Alamo Park - located behind the U.S. Post Office, has a covered pavilion, playground and concession areas.