Washington Park was the name given to three

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

parks (or four, by some reckonings) on two different sites in the

Park Slope Park Slope is a neighborhood in northwestern Brooklyn, New York City, within the area once known as South Brooklyn. Park Slope is roughly bounded by Prospect Park and Prospect Park West to the east, Fourth Avenue to the west, Flatbush A ...

neighborhood of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, located at Third Street and Fourth Avenue. The two sites were diagonally opposite each other at that intersection.

First park

The first Washington Park was bounded by Third and Fifth Streets, and Fourth and Fifth Avenues. The property contained an old building then called the Gowanus House, which stands today, albeit largely reconstructed. Known today as the Old Stone House, it was used as an impromptu headquarters by General

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

during the

Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn, New Yor ...

, during a delaying action by 400 Maryland troops against approximately 2000

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and Hessian troops that allowed a good portion of the Continental Army to retreat to fortified positions on

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, ...

. Those events inspired the ballpark's name. The ballpark was the home of the

baseball club during 1883–1891, with a slight interruption by a destructive fire in mid-May of the 1889 season. (Some sources, such as Retroshee

number the pre- and post-fire ballparks as separate entities.) The team's uniforms and equipment had been stored in the Old Stone House at the time and were thus saved. Vechte-Cortelyou House-Brooklyn

The team, at first called the Atlantics in reference to the old Brooklyn Atlantics , Atlantics of Brooklyn, and then known as the Bridegrooms, had started in a minor league in 1883, joined the then-major American Association in 1884, and then switched to the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

in 1890.

Streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

(trolley) tracks ran near the ballpark, inspiring one of the team's many nicknames that ultimately stuck: Trolley Dodgers. In 1891, the team moved into the Players' League one-year-old ballpark, Eastern Park in Brownsville. That move proved to be ill-advised, and Eastern Park was abandoned after six poorly attended seasons.

Second park

The second Washington Park was bounded by First and Third Streets, and Third and Fourth Avenues. It was located at . The park seated 18,800. It consisted of a covered grandstand behind the infield and uncovered stand down the right field line. The Brooklyn National Leaguers, by then often called the "Superbas" as well as the "Dodgers", moved into this new ballpark in 1898, where they would play for the next 15 seasons. On April 30, 1898, the Dodgers played their first game at new Washington Park and 15,000 fans attended. One of the more unusual features of the Park was the aroma from nearby factories and

Gowanus Canal The Gowanus Canal (originally known as the Gowanus Creek) is a canal in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, on the westernmost portion of Long Island. Once a vital cargo transportation hub, the canal has seen decreasing use since the mid-2 ...

, which was a block away and curled around two sides of the ballpark.. Meanwhile, owner Charlie Ebbets slowly invested in the individual lots on a larger piece of property in Flatbush, which would become the site of

Ebbets Field Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball stadium in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. It is mainly known for having been the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team of the National League (1913–1957). It was also home to five pro ...

once he had the entire block. So in 1913, the Dodgers abandoned Washington Park.

Third park

The

Brooklyn Tip-Tops The Brooklyn Tip-Tops were a team in the short-lived Federal League of professional baseball from 1914 to 1915. The team's name came from Tip Top Bread, a product of Ward Baking Company, which was also owned by team owner Robert Ward. They were so ...

or "BrookFeds" of the

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

, the only major league team ever named for a loaf of bread, acquired the ballpark property in 1914, then rebuilt the second Washington Park in steel and concrete. The old park took on a modern appearance; in fact, it was nearly a duplicate of the initial version of another Federal League park in Chicago that would become Wrigley Field. However, with the Dodgers in a new and somewhat more spacious steel-and-concrete home already,

, there was no long-term need for Washington Park, so it was abandoned for the final time after the Federal League ended its two-year run. Part of the left center field wall of this final Washington Park still stands on the east side of 3rd Avenue, south of 1st Street, as part of a

Con Edison Consolidated Edison, Inc., commonly known as Con Edison (stylized as conEdison) or ConEd, is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues as of 2017, and over $62 ...

yard.

Dimensions

(The Second Washington Park between 1st Street and 3rd Street) *Left field – 335 ft (1898), 375.95 ft (1908), 300 ft (1914) *Left center field – 500 ft (1898), 443.5 ft (1908) *Center field – 445 ft (1898), 424.7 ft (1908), 400 ft (1914) *Right center field – 300 ft (1898) *Right field – 215 ft (1898), 295 ft (1899), 301.84 ft (1908), 275 ft (1914) *Backstop – 90 ft (1898), 15 ft (1908)

Fences

*Left field to center field – 12 ft. *Right field – 42 ft (13 ft. brick fence topped by 29 ft. of canvas) Washington Park I and II Brooklyn Sanborn maps

References

* ''Green Cathedrals'', by Phil Lowry. Society for American Baseball Research (June 1986).

External links

Brooklyn Ballparks page on Washington ParkFirst Washington Park, from Sanborn map, 1888Second Washington Park, from Sanborn map, 1906
{{Navboxes, list1= {{s-start {{succession box , title = Home of the Brooklyn Dodgers , years = 1884 – 1890
1898 – 1912 , before = first ballpark
Eastern Park , after = Eastern Park

{{end {{Los Angeles Dodgers {{Federal League {{NewYorksportsvenues {{Wooden baseball parks Defunct baseball venues in the United States Defunct Major League Baseball venues Sports venues in Brooklyn Brooklyn Dodgers stadiums Federal League venues American football venues in New York City Baseball venues in New York City Former sports venues in New York City Demolished sports venues in New York (state)