Washington Park (baseball)

This article is about the baseball stadiums in Brooklyn, New York. For the stadium in Indianapolis, see Washington Park (Indianapolis). For the stadium in Los Angeles, see Washington Park (Los Angeles).
Washington Park
Entrance to the second incarnation of Washington Park, 1911
Washington Park is located in New York City
Washington Park
Washington Park
Location in New York City
Washington Park is located in New York
Washington Park
Washington Park
Location within the State of New York
Washington Park is located in the United States
Washington Park
Washington Park
Location within the United States
AddressBrooklyn, New York 11215
Coordinates40°40′26.3″N 73°59′08.6″W / 40.673972°N 73.985722°W / 40.673972; -73.985722
Construction
Built
  • 1883 (first park)
  • 1897–1898 (second park)
  • 1914 (third park)
Opened
  • April 12, 1883 (1883-04-12) (first park)
  • April 30, 1898 (1898-04-30) (second park)
  • April 14, 1914 (1914-04-14) (third park)
Demolished
  • 1891 (first park)
  • 1913 (second park)
  • 1922 (third park)
Tenants

Washington Park was the name given to three Major League Baseball parks on two different sites in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, located at the intersection of Third Street and Fourth Avenue. The two sites were diagonally opposite each other, on the southeast and northwest corners.

Gowanus House

The land on which the ballparks were built was itself known as "Washington Park" and originally consisted largely of an open green space which was flooded in the wintertime as a skating rink. It featured an old building then called the Gowanus House, which stands today, albeit largely reconstructed. Known today as the Old Stone House, it was used in Revolutionary times as an impromptu headquarters by General George Washington during the Battle of Long Island, during a delaying action by 400 Maryland troops against approximately 2000 British and Hessian troops that allowed a good portion of the Continental Army to retreat to fortified positions on Brooklyn Heights. Those events inspired the park's name, as well as that of the three major league ballparks that were to be built there.

Baseball first came to Washington Park in 1861, in the form of a winter baseball game played on skates. The Brooklyn Atlantics professionals took on the Charter Oak Base Ball Club, another Brooklyn-based team, before 15,000 spectators. The New York Times marveled at the skating skills of the players, insisting that the players "seemed to be quite as much at home (on the ice), and played as well on runners (skates) as when on terra firma." The Atlantics took the contest, 36–27.[1]

  1. ^ "A Game of Base Ball Played on Skates". The. 5 February 1861. Retrieved 29 November 2023.