Walker Stadium
Lenoir, NC
Review by Gary
Tucked in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina lies the unassuming town of Lenoir, population approximately 18,000. It is the birthplace of such notable folk as 2014 World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner and two brothers who grew up in the town and would eventually have a baseball stadium named after them. Verlon (Cubs) and Albert “Rube” Walker (Mets) would enjoy long careers in Major League Baseball as coaches after their playing days were over.
Davenport Field was opened in 1950 and christened “Walker Stadium” to honor these brothers in 1971. Both the Cubs and Mets sent commemorative plaques to be installed at the newly named stadium to honor these Lenoirians when it was dedicated to the Walkers. Today, this hidden ballpark is home to the Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute Cobras. The Lenoir Legends of the Old North State League called Walker Stadium home until 2024.
The field is dug into the earth behind and one story below an adjacent elementary school. The ballpark boasts a fabulous concrete-stepped seating area dug into the 45-degree angled hill that encircles the field from foul pole to foul pole. The ballpark resembles the one found in Marion, VA, about one hundred miles to the north and another in far off Huron, SD.
Fans sit on these seatless steps directly behind home plate as if they were in a Roman amphitheater. Game attendees can choose to sit on any of fourteen rows of cement steps or save the cardio workout and stay at street level where there are some benches and plenty of room to park folding chairs. The concessions and restrooms are just behind the stands in one of the elementary school buildings.
The super small press box is not behind home plate but rather found at the far end of the locker room behind the third base dugout. Batting cages and landscaping tools lie in the area beyond the home clubhouse. While the home team occupies the third base side, the visitor’s dugout is just that, a dugout on the first base side. Both bullpens are within the fenced field down each baseline.
Prior to the game, the home team Cobras perform all the maintenance of the playing surface, from watering the dirt infield to chalking the baselines and batter’s boxes. The stadium is nestled in a quiet residential neighborhood that provides limited parking. Late comers park down the narrow streets, including one that runs behind the tree-lined outfield fence. Walker Stadium is a must-see treasure in the pleasant town of Lenoir, NC.
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2026
293
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