Wearn Field opened in 1912 as a replacement for Latta Park II; it was used primarily as a neutral site venue by Davidson, who played at least one game per season (except 1927) at the grounds from their opening through 1928, when Charlotte's Central High School Field opened the city's first major football-centric field. It was replaced by Griffith Park for baseball purposes.

Overall, NC State had a record of 3-1-1 at this field, playing Davidson in all 5 meetings. The Red and White went 1-1-1 in their conference match-ups against the Presbyterians as members of the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SAIAA). I consider all games as having taken place at a neutral site, though some consider Charlotte a home field for the Wildcats.

  * Non-conference games

In late 1911, the Charlotte Consolidated Construction Company (the Four C's) announced that Latta Park, the home for Charlotte area athletics for the last two decades, was to be converted into what now composes the Dilworth neighborhood. In this action, the grounds of the city's two previous athletic fields were torn up to make way for new houses. The change pushed the city to search for a new athletic venue for the second time in just a half decade.

By February 1911, W. Richard Wearn bought a 10-acre tract of land off Mint Street for $15,000 (nearly $505,000 in 2025). He cordoned off half the grounds for commercial purposes (to which he moved his family's lumber yard in 1928), and began the process of turning the other half into the city's newest baseball diamond, leasing to the Charlotte Baseball Club, of which he and his brother Joseph were members. Located just a block off the street car line and a mile closer to city center, the grounds were felt to be ideal, especially since these grounds would feature regulation base paths for the first time, not to mention a left field distance of just 288 feet, three-quarters the size of its predecessor, and positively lilliputian compared to the cavernous Latta Park I. Grading work began in August, and by late February, after considerable weather-related delays, the new grounds and 1,500 person grandstand were completed at a cost of $10,000. Though Latta Park was gone, a portion of the old stands were repurposed as seating in the new venue [1].

Weather beguiled the stadium past construction, delaying the originally-planned opening match between UNC and Davidson's baseball teams. Instead, the new park (initially, though briefly, referred to as League Park (called League Park II to differentiate from the similarly-dubbed Latta Park II) first hosted action among Charlotte's amateur Commercial League in early April. Final seating capacity was said to be 2,000 ticketed fans, though reports of up to 3,000 were announced. And though no formal announcement has been made, local papers had dubbed the new diamond Wearn Field by late May. It was named not for Richard Wearn, but instead his brother, Joseph H. Wearn, who was principle in bringing baseball back to the Queen City in 1902 [2].

After running the team for a season, Felix Hayman, along with his associates W. M. "Bud" Moore and John W. Morehead, purchased both the grounds and the team from the Wearns in December 1919. New (and slightly larger) bleachers for the negro and white spectators respectively followed ahead of the 1921 and 1922 seasons. Continuing to improve on the grounds, in 1923 the grandstand was enlarged by 1,000 persons. The grandstand was enlarged once again ahead of the 1925 season, conjoining the existing grandstand and the left field stands, pushing the reported size to 4,000 persons (though later reports said just 2,800 seats). The field was fit with a turf infield that offseason as well; Hayman was protective of his investment, forbidding open air meetings and other wear-heavy events from using the space [3].

Despite consistently sinking more money into the park, the Charlotte Baseball Club began looking to leave in the next couple years, going as far as to purchase a new plot of land. Hayman and Moore were hoping to build a 15,000-person stadium in north Charlotte in order to open a stadium "adequate to meet this city's needs." Work was delayed as a decision on a street widening project drug on, though involved parties hoped to abandon Wearn by early 1931. In the meantime, the Charlotte's major sporting venues were augmented by the opening of Central High School Field in 1928.

Unfortunately for the ownership, their hand was forced: almost all of the existing field burnt down in May 1929, conflagrating all but the negro bleachers and fence. Incredibly, the entire field was rebuilt from scratch in less than a week, and improved in the meantime, replacing stairs with ramps and lowering the field's sight lines. Combined with new bleacher seating, the capacity was boosted to nearly 5,000 persons and opened (albeit uncovered) ready for Charlotte's next batch of home games. The orientation and layout appears to be similar to that of the field before the fire [4] [5].

In 1931, the field was lighted for the first time, allowing for night baseball; the lights were improved in 1937. In 1932, the field hosted its first professional football when the independent Charlotte Bantams, sponsored by the Austin Motor Company, took the field. Their first match game was on October 8th, 1932, playing a night game before just 600 spectators, though later games drew as many as 4,000. The following year, the venue's primary host, the Hornets, were purchased by part-owner of the Atlanta Crackers, "Uncle" Wilbert Robinson. Upon acquiring Charlotte's team as a farm system for Atlanta, the out-of-state cohort decided to rename the grounds Robbie's Field in Wilbert's honor, purportly spurred into action because old Wearn Field didn't have its name clearly posted.

Besides his edict that a field bearing his name needed a general beautification, the new ownership's interest in maintaining the park was relatively minor. Indeed, I found no reports of major additions or renovations to the field throughout Robinson's ownership of the Hornets. In 1937, when Robinson sold the team to the Washington Senators farm system, Robbie's name was disposed of and the plant named Hayman Park at the request of "a number of fans" to honor the long-time manager, who had passed away in 1932 at the age of 55. As with the Crackers' acquisition, the field was modestly improved by the Senators' purchase, with new bleachers for white and colored spectators erected in the first season. In 1939, all non-grandstand seating was revised and increased in count so that the venue could hold up to 5,000 persons [6].

Sadly, the changes proved to be too little, too late. By August 1940, local baseball interests announced they were building a new park, Griffith Park, which was ready in time for the 1941 baseball season. The new grandstand alone was to hold 4,000 persons, twice the size of Hayman Park's unit. The primary reason cited for the move: the decrepit nature of the old venerable batting grounds. As local sportsman Burke Davis explained in an exposé on the Albemarle's frenzied win in the American Legion Junior World Series in August 1940, "the stands are so old and shaky" that ownership "fear[s] big crowds." Though team practices and a handful of semi-formal games by Charlotte's Army Air Base persisted into July, the grounds were as good as gone. In November, the raw materials making up the grounds were sold among a building materials shortage. By 1942, the grounds were owned by H&S Lumber and were in full-swing industrial use. The grounds are now used as a parking for the NC Department of Transportation [7].

Pictures of Wearn Field