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New York, 1909. "Polo Grounds, view from Coogan's Bluff (baseball)." 8x10 inch glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size.
This wooden grandstand burned shortly before the 1911 season and was replaced by a steel and concrete stadium that same year. The double decked stands originally extended only a little way past 3d base on the left side and a short distance beyond the foul pole on the right field side. The park was expanded in the mid-20's to the configuration it was to keep until it was replaced by Shea Stadium in 1964. It was home at various times to the baseball Giants, the football Giants, the Mets and the Titans (the Jets original name).
Anyone have any thoughts as what the roof is made of and what color it would be? Is it a sort of whitewashed rubber?
Is this the predecessor of the Polo Grounds familiar to most of us, the one that was home to the Giants, Mets, and Jets?
I believe there have been several stadiums on the site. This would not be the first, but is it the second or the third?
The Polo Grounds have been gone for over a half-century, with a housing project now occupying the site. It's the same fate as its better-known counterpart Ebbets Field. Other than a plaque on one of the project's buildings indicating the location of home plate, no physical trace of the Polo Grounds remains - with one curious exception. Opened around 1913 and restored just a couple years ago, the John T. Brush Stairway runs down Coogan's Bluff from Edgecombe Avenue to what was the stadium's main entrance. It provided convenient access to the trolleys that ran along Edgecombe.
Pre-restoration:
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