Union Grounds was a baseball park located in the Williamsburg section of

Brooklyn, New York 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 ...

. The grounds opened in 1862, its inaugural match being played on May 15. It was the first baseball park enclosed entirely by a fence, thereby allowing proprietor

William Cammeyer William Henry Cammeyer (March 20, 1821 – September 4, 1898) was a businessman who was a pioneer in the early days of Major League Baseball. He was the owner of the New York Mutuals franchise and even managed the team during the 1876 season. He al ...

or his tenant to charge admission. This permitted paying customers to watch the games from benches in a stand while non-paying spectators could only watch from embankments outside the grounds.

Overview

The ball grounds was built on a large block bounded by Harrison Avenue, Rutledge Street, Lynch Street, and Marcy Avenue. (Marcy also bordered the Capitoline Grounds.) A writer for the Brooklyn Eagle described the field in 1862:

"The buildings occupied last winter are left standing, used pretty much for the same purposes as them. icNear these a long wooden shed has been erected, capable of accommodating several hundred persons, and benches provided for the convenience of the fair sex... Several acres more have been added to the enclosure, which is fenced in with a board fence six or seven feet in height. On the southeast corner a large and commodious club house has been erected, containing accommodations for three clubs. The field is now almost a perfect level, covering at least some six acres of ground, all of which is well drained, rolled, and in a few weeks will be in splendid condition... Several flagstaffs have been put up, from which floated the banners of the clubs o'er shadowed by the nations' ensign."

During its early years Union Grounds was the home field for several ballclubs, notably including the Eckford Club, 1862 and 1863 champions of the

National Association of Base Ball Players The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) was the first organization governing American baseball. (The sport was spelled with two words in the 19th century.) The first convention of sixteen New York City area clubs in 1857 effecti ...

. In 1868, the Mutual Club of New York moved in from

Elysian Fields, Hoboken, New Jersey The Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey, was recreational parkland located on the city's northern riverfront in the 19th century. The area was a popular getaway destination for New Yorkers in the 19th century, much in the tradition of the pleasure ...

, long-time home of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

clubs but never enclosed. The ballpark's entrance was on Rutledge Street, and a one-story building in right field, 350 feet away from home plate, was in play. The diamond was in the northeast portion of the block, off Harrison Avenue. The church seen in the background of various illustrations was St. Paul's Episcopal Church, which stood at the corner of Marcy and Penn. The church was completed in 1861 and was demolished around 1930. After formation of the first professional league, the National Association of ''Professional'' Base Ball Players, Union Grounds was home to the Mutual Club from 1871 to

1876 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. * February 2 – The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs is ...

(the only year as a member of the new

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 ...

Eckford of Brooklyn Eckford of Brooklyn, or simply Eckford, was an American baseball club from 1855 to 1872. When the Union Grounds opened on May 15, 1862 for baseball in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, it became the first enclosed baseball grounds in America. Three clubs cal ...

of the National Association in

1872 Events January–March * January 12 – Yohannes IV is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in Axum, the first ruler crowned in that city in over 500 years. * February 2 – The government of the United Kingdom buys a number of forts on ...

, and the Atlantic Club of Brooklyn of the National Association from

1873 Events January–March * January 1 ** Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar. ** The California Penal Code goes into effect. * January 17 – American Indian Wars: Modoc War: First Battle of the Stronghold – Modoc Indians defe ...

1875 Events January–March * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the ...

. It served as home field for the " Hartford of Brooklyn" team during the 1877

season. Some clubs also occasionally staged single games on the grounds, including a season-ending "home" game for the Chicago White Stockings in October 187

whose own home grounds had been destroyed by the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...

. On July 26, 1878, the final major league game was played on the grounds, with Providence defeating Milwaukee 4-1. The grounds continued to host barnstorming major league clubs, amateur clubs and independent clubs through the 1882 season.BrooklynBallParks.com
/ref> The park did not sit idle during the winter. Its field was flooded and served as the rink for an ice skating club. An unusual feature of the park was the presence of a pagoda in center field. Marcy Avenue Armory jeh

Union Grounds was demolished in July of 1883. Heyward Street now runs through the site, and as of 2009 the Juan Morel Campos Secondary School stands to the north of Heyward Street and the Marcy Avenue Armory stands to the south of it, with no historical marker or any other indication of the land's significance to the history of baseball.

Sources

*''Green Cathedrals'', by Philip J. Lowry, 1986. *''Ballparks of North America'', by Michael Benson, 1989. Name: Union Grounds *''Long Before the Dodgers'', by James L. Terry, 2002

References

External links

BrooklynBallParks.com
{{coord, 40, 42, 14, N, 73, 57, 10, W, display=title Defunct baseball venues in the United States Sports venues in Brooklyn Baseball venues in New York City Former sports venues in New York City Demolished sports venues in New York (state) Demolished buildings and structures in Brooklyn 1862 establishments in New York (state) Sports venues completed in 1862 1883 disestablishments in New York (state) Sports venues demolished in 1883