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Post by fwclipper51 on Feb 15, 2024 14:03:46 GMT -5
Hinchliffe Stadium, Paterson, NJ Former home of the Negro League Teams being restored and reopened.Article Edited by Clipper from various sources Hinchliffe Stadium Historic Aerial Ca. 1933 (Image Source: Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium)
Historical Overview
The abandoned Hinchliffe Stadium, or “City Stadium”, is an Art Deco style depression era facility built with public funds in 1932. In addition to baseball, the stadium hosted football games, boxing matches, auto racing and track & field events at various times during its use. It also served as a venue for musical acts. The stadium could host as many as 10,000 spectators before needing to increase its capacity with its portable bleachers. One of the stadium’s claims to fame is that it offered professional black sports teams and players a place to compete at a time when they were excluded from the Major Leagues. The stadium was greatly successful during its prime which lasted into the 1950s. In 1964, the facility was enlarged for use by the city school system. Later, in the 1980s, the stadium was temporarily used for semi-pro football and international soccer games. However, shortcomings in maintenance lead to a compromise of the structural integrity of the field prompting Hinchliffe’s closure in 1997. According to the Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium website, the facility is on the State and National Registers of Historic Places and is being considered for inclusion in the proposed Great Falls / SUM National Park. In addition, an architecture firm specializing in historical restorations was commissioned to plan the field’s renovation. So, we may see this field in use once again in the near future.
New York Black Yankees (Image Source: BlackPast.org)
The Baseball Teams and Their Players
Due to segregation within professional baseball, various “Negro Leagues” were created that operated parallel to the leagues that excluded them. Some of the Negro League teams that played at Hinchliffe Stadium included, the New York Cubans, New York Black Yankees, Mohawk Giants and Newark Eagles among others. The New York Black Yankees and New York Cubans were NYC based teams that called Hinchliffe home at one time; although, the Yankees relocated to Rochester toward the end of their existence. The Mohawk Giants were a Schenectady New York based team and the Newark Eagles were organized in Newark, NJ. The team logos for the Mohawk Giants, New York Cubans and Newark Eagles were painted on Hinchliffe’s field. At some point in the field’s history, it was covered with Astroturf, likely protecting the logos long after the teams were disbanded. Major league baseball began desegregating in 1946, when Jackie Robinson was signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Soon after many of the Negro Leagues best players were integrated into the majors leading to a decline in Negro game attendance and the end of the Negro leagues in 1952.
Midget Cars Racing at Hinchliffe Stadium, ca. 1947
Other Events Hosted at Hinchliffe
Since this post is about a baseball stadium, I’m not going to dwell too much on the other illustrious events once held at the venue; however, they do merit mentioning. The Patterson New Jersey racing events held at Hinchliffe were for motorcycle and midget cars. Some of the well-known drivers to race here were Dutch Schaefer, Rex Records and Ted Horn. Football teams that called Hinchliffe home were the Silk City Bears, Paterson Giants and Paterson Nighthawks. The stadium also hosted high school football games. Diamond Gloves boxing (predecessor to Golden Gloves) matches were held at the stadium starting in the late 1930s and lasted at least into the mid 1940s. I couldn’t find very much on concerts hosted at the stadium but acts like Duke Ellington and Lee Castle were featured there.
Experiencing the Abandoned Hinchliffe Stadium
Unlike many of the places I have visited, the interesting features of this place were mostly confined to architectural elements and the scale of the place. So, a lot of what made the site interesting is still intact since there wasn’t as much to vandalize or steel for scrap. That said, there was evidence arsine and I could tell that there had once been a lot more graffiti. Walking around the stadium was like looking in a window through time to a past era. As I wandered through the bleachers it was easy to imagine the roar of the crowd and spectacle of the game below. This place was once full of life; hopefully someday that vitality will return.
Clippers Note: Since being remodeled and opened, Hinchliffe Stadium is now the home of the New Jersey Jackals baseball team.
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Post by inger on Feb 15, 2024 14:32:28 GMT -5
Hinchliffe Stadium, Paterson, NJ Former home of the Negro League Teams being restored and reopened.Article Edited by Clipper from various sourcesView AttachmentHinchliffe Stadium Historic Aerial Ca. 1933 (Image Source: Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium)
Historical Overview
The abandoned Hinchliffe Stadium, or “City Stadium”, is an Art Deco style depression era facility built with public funds in 1932. In addition to baseball, the stadium hosted football games, boxing matches, auto racing and track & field events at various times during its use. It also served as a venue for musical acts. The stadium could host as many as 10,000 spectators before needing to increase its capacity with its portable bleachers. One of the stadium’s claims to fame is that it offered professional black sports teams and players a place to compete at a time when they were excluded from the Major Leagues. The stadium was greatly successful during its prime which lasted into the 1950s. In 1964, the facility was enlarged for use by the city school system. Later, in the 1980s, the stadium was temporarily used for semi-pro football and international soccer games. However, shortcomings in maintenance lead to a compromise of the structural integrity of the field prompting Hinchliffe’s closure in 1997. According to the Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium website, the facility is on the State and National Registers of Historic Places and is being considered for inclusion in the proposed Great Falls / SUM National Park. In addition, an architecture firm specializing in historical restorations was commissioned to plan the field’s renovation. So, we may see this field in use once again in the near future.
View Attachment
New York Black Yankees (Image Source: BlackPast.org)
The Baseball Teams and Their Players
Due to segregation within professional baseball, various “Negro Leagues” were created that operated parallel to the leagues that excluded them. Some of the Negro League teams that played at Hinchliffe Stadium included, the New York Cubans, New York Black Yankees, Mohawk Giants and Newark Eagles among others. The New York Black Yankees and New York Cubans were NYC based teams that called Hinchliffe home at one time; although, the Yankees relocated to Rochester toward the end of their existence. The Mohawk Giants were a Schenectady New York based team and the Newark Eagles were organized in Newark, NJ. The team logos for the Mohawk Giants, New York Cubans and Newark Eagles were painted on Hinchliffe’s field. At some point in the field’s history, it was covered with Astroturf, likely protecting the logos long after the teams were disbanded. Major league baseball began desegregating in 1946, when Jackie Robinson was signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Soon after many of the Negro Leagues best players were integrated into the majors leading to a decline in Negro game attendance and the end of the Negro leagues in 1952.
View Attachment
Midget Cars Racing at Hinchliffe Stadium, ca. 1947
Other Events Hosted at Hinchliffe
Since this post is about a baseball stadium, I’m not going to dwell too much on the other illustrious events once held at the venue; however, they do merit mentioning. The Patterson New Jersey racing events held at Hinchliffe were for motorcycle and midget cars. Some of the well-known drivers to race here were Dutch Schaefer, Rex Records and Ted Horn. Football teams that called Hinchliffe home were the Silk City Bears, Paterson Giants and Paterson Nighthawks. The stadium also hosted high school football games. Diamond Gloves boxing (predecessor to Golden Gloves) matches were held at the stadium starting in the late 1930s and lasted at least into the mid 1940s. I couldn’t find very much on concerts hosted at the stadium but acts like Duke Ellington and Lee Castle were featured there.
Experiencing the Abandoned Hinchliffe Stadium
Unlike many of the places I have visited, the interesting features of this place were mostly confined to architectural elements and the scale of the place. So, a lot of what made the site interesting is still intact since there wasn’t as much to vandalize or steel for scrap. That said, there was evidence arsine and I could tell that there had once been a lot more graffiti. Walking around the stadium was like looking in a window through time to a past era. As I wandered through the bleachers it was easy to imagine the roar of the crowd and spectacle of the game below. This place was once full of life; hopefully someday that vitality will return.
Clippers Note: Since being remodeled and opened, Hinchliffe Stadium is now the home of the New Jersey Jackals baseball team.
I used to have relatives in Paterson. I have no idea if I still do or not. It’s been a long time. Now that the Negro Leagues have been proclaimed major leagues I wonder if the crowds then felt as though they were watching anything special?… |
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Post by fwclipper51 on Feb 15, 2024 14:56:54 GMT -5
Hinchliffe Stadium, Paterson, NJ
Hinchliffe Stadium is a 7,500-seat stadium located in Paterson, New Jersey. The stadium is located atop the Great Falls of the Passaic River, and is part of the surrounding National Historical Park. The stadium, built in 1932, was closed in 1996, after years of neglect but reopened in 2023.
The stadium's primary user is the Paterson Board of Education, where it serves as a multipurpose facility for the city’s 2 high schools, Eastside High School and Kennedy High School. As of 2023, it also serves as the home stadium for the New Jersey Jackals of the independent Frontier League in Minor League Baseball; the Jackals spent their previous 25 seasons playing at Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls, New Jersey.
Hinchliffe Stadium was also used as the home of the New York Black Yankees of the Negro Leagues, and is 1 of 4 stadiums still standing that hosted Negro League baseball games.
Some Negro league ballparks that are still standing or rebuilt elsewhere include:
Josh Gibson Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is still standing and was renovated in 2008.
McCormick Field in Asheville, North Carolina was originally built in 1924, then used in the 1940s by the Asheville Blues. It was rebuilt in 1992 is used as a ballpark by the Tourists.
Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama is still standing and is an active sports venue and museum.
Early years
The stadium, a large concrete oval with near-continuous seating laid out like a classical amphitheater, was inspired by a decade-long popular "stadium movement" in the 1920s, and was finally brought to fruition through the persistent efforts of its namesake Mayor John Hinchliffe, who made his fortune from Hinchliffe Brewing before it closed due to Prohibition. It opened on July 8, 1932, as a combination athletic facility and a "paying investment" for the working people of industrial Paterson, New Jersey, who were by then struggling through the early years of the Great Depression. Many workers laid off from the mills found work under a New Deal-financed program to provide enhancements to the stadium in 1932–1934.
Aerial photo of Hinchliffe Stadium with Great Falls in foreground
The stadium immediately played host to Negro league and "barnstorming" games. In 1933, the stadium's 1st complete season hosting baseball, Hinchliffe hosted the Colored Championship of the Nation, the Negro leagues equivalent of the World Series. That following year, the New York Black Yankees made the stadium their home, a tenure that lasted until 1945 and was interrupted only once, when the team booked Triborough Stadium on Randall's Island in New York for the 1938 season. After World War II, the Black Yankees left Hinchliffe and took up residency at Red Wing Stadium in Rochester, New York. Hinchliffe was also home to the New York Cubans in 1935 and 1936.
The baseball played at Hinchliffe Stadium was some of the best and most competitive in the game, including prodigious athletes like Monte Irvin, Josh Gibson, Oscar Charleston, and "Cool Papa" Bell, among many others. Hall-of-Famer Larry Doby, the legendary player who broke the American League color barrier in 1947, grew up in Paterson playing football and baseball in Hinchliffe Stadium for Paterson's Eastside High School, and was scouted from Hinchliffe for the Newark Eagles in 1942.
Baseball Teams that use Hinchliffe Stadium
New York Black Yankees (NNL II) 1933-1937, 1939-1945
New York Cubans (NNL II) 1936
Paterson Panthers (AA) 1936-1941,1946-1950
Hinchliffe became an important venue for boxing (Diamond Gloves, precursor to the Golden Gloves), auto racing (precursor to NASCAR featuring stock car racing, pre-Indianapolis racing, and midget car racing events), and professional football.[8] Racers that appeared at Hinchliffe included Dutch Schaefer, Ted Horn, Bill Schindler, Art Cross, and Tex Keene. Victory Bond rallies held at the stadium during World War II drew sports stars and New York and Hollywood celebrities by the dozens. Among the many notable events headlined at Hinchliffe were shows performed by Abbott and Costello. (Lou Costello was born and raised in Paterson's Eastside section.)
Throughout its history, though, Hinchliffe Stadium's primary use was as a venue for Paterson high school sports. Its 2 high schools, Eastside High School and Central High School, shared the stadium for various sports including football and baseball until the late 1960s. (Kennedy High School, opened in 1965, also used Hinchliffe.) The schools' annual intercity Thanksgiving Day matchup was always held at Hinchliffe, and the venue would also play host to other schools' teams who took advantage of its large capacity; for instance, Paterson's neighbor Clifton used the stadium for its football team during the 1940s until opening its own Stadium October 14,1950.
Later years, closing and preservation efforts
At first Hinchliffe, sometimes called "City Stadium", was municipally owned. In 1963, as the schools assumed full ownership, they undertook an array of repairs and upgrades that included repositioning the baseball diamond and adding fill to the area above and along the river (the "cliff" area, called "The Valley of the Rocks") in order to enlarge the football field and lengthen the track. In the following decades, the stadium did yeoman service for both school sports and major public events, including from the 1970s on, concerts, antique car shows, and the fireworks displays for the Great Falls Festivals that have become a favorite feature of Paterson's Labor Day celebrations. Duke Ellington held one of his last major concerts here in 1971.
In 1983, the field received another upgrade under Mayor Frank X. Graves, Jr. These repairs made previously temporary stands permanent, added handicap access and storage facilities, and resulted in the installation of an Astroturf field surface. In 1988 Hinchliffe Stadium became the home of the New Jersey Eagles of the American Soccer League and the Eagles called the stadium home for 2 seasons before moving to another venue for their 3rd and final season.
The general decline of the school system in Paterson over the next decade meant the diversion of maintenance resources away from the stadium. Although the facility continued to be used through the 1990s, Hincliffe Stadium fell further into disrepair due to underfunding and was eventually closed at the end of the 1996-1997 school year and threatened with demolition. This forced Eastside High School and Kennedy High School to play their entire 1997 football seasons on the road and both schools returned to playing in Paterson for the 1998 season at Bauerle Field, located near Eastside High School.
The threat of demolition sparked a new movement to find ways and means of restoring and revitalizing this historic venue. A group of local citizens formed the non-profit Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium, announcing in September 2002, on the 70th anniversary of the stadium's dedication. A month later, Schools Superintendent Edwin Duroy announced a proposal to revitalize the facility into a stadium complex. The National Register of Historic Places designation by the State Office of Historic Preservation deemed Hinchliffe as only "locally significant", even though segregation and the Negro leagues were of national prominence. This cost the stadium much-needed funding from the Save America's Treasures grant funding program.
Stadium renovation
Hinchliffe Stadium before renovation
In 2009, efforts to renovate Hinchliffe began in earnest when Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh, then a member of the city council, visited Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, one of the few remaining Negro League stadiums still standing. Sayegh believed that Hinchliffe could be restored and vowed to himself that if he was elected mayor he would lead the effort to do so.
Elected mayor in 2018, Sayegh secured the necessary political support and funding for the renovation and in 2021 ground was broken on a $94 million project to both restore and upgrade the stadium. Funding for the project was dependent on the return of a professional baseball team, a condition that was met when the New Jersey Jackals announced they would be moving from Yogi Berra Stadium in 2023 and play at Hinchliffe Stadium.
The stadium had a soft opening on May 17, 2023 that featured a high school softball game, as well as a baseball game between Paterson's Eastside High School and Don Bosco Prep. Hinchliffe's grand opening occurred on May 19, 2023. It was attended by numerous celebrities, including Whoopi Goldberg and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. Goldberg told the media that preserving the stadium was essential to preserving American history, saying, "Anything that's happened in this country should never be erased from books of any kind because we need to know, we need to remember. Little kids need to know, and they need to understand. There's not a color in this country that doesn't participate in our collective history." Other notables in attendance included Executive Director of the MLB Players Association Tony Clark, former MLB team Manager Joe Maddon and MLB Network insider Tom Verducci.
During the opening ceremonies, Sayegh said that he and former professional baseball player Harold Reynolds had spoken to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred about hosting an annual major league baseball game at the stadium as a means of honoring the Negro Leagues.
The Jackals played their 1st game at the stadium on May 21, 2023, against the Sussex County Miners. 400 people had attended the game and saw the Jackals defeat the Miners 10-6.
Critics of the stadium renovation included Jackal fans who questioned the decision moving the team to an area with significant crime and transportation issues. Jackals Owner, Al Dorso, who agreed to lease the stadium from the city annually for 180 days, was also criticized by community leaders for placing profits over the needs of local residents.
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Post by fwclipper51 on Feb 15, 2024 15:05:34 GMT -5
Hinchliffe Stadium, Paterson, NJ Former home of the Negro League Teams being restored and reopened.Article Edited by Clipper from various sourcesView AttachmentHinchliffe Stadium Historic Aerial Ca. 1933 (Image Source: Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium)
Historical Overview
The abandoned Hinchliffe Stadium, or “City Stadium”, is an Art Deco style depression era facility built with public funds in 1932. In addition to baseball, the stadium hosted football games, boxing matches, auto racing and track & field events at various times during its use. It also served as a venue for musical acts. The stadium could host as many as 10,000 spectators before needing to increase its capacity with its portable bleachers. One of the stadium’s claims to fame is that it offered professional black sports teams and players a place to compete at a time when they were excluded from the Major Leagues. The stadium was greatly successful during its prime which lasted into the 1950s. In 1964, the facility was enlarged for use by the city school system. Later, in the 1980s, the stadium was temporarily used for semi-pro football and international soccer games. However, shortcomings in maintenance lead to a compromise of the structural integrity of the field prompting Hinchliffe’s closure in 1997. According to the Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium website, the facility is on the State and National Registers of Historic Places and is being considered for inclusion in the proposed Great Falls / SUM National Park. In addition, an architecture firm specializing in historical restorations was commissioned to plan the field’s renovation. So, we may see this field in use once again in the near future.
View Attachment
New York Black Yankees (Image Source: BlackPast.org)
The Baseball Teams and Their Players
Due to segregation within professional baseball, various “Negro Leagues” were created that operated parallel to the leagues that excluded them. Some of the Negro League teams that played at Hinchliffe Stadium included, the New York Cubans, New York Black Yankees, Mohawk Giants and Newark Eagles among others. The New York Black Yankees and New York Cubans were NYC based teams that called Hinchliffe home at one time; although, the Yankees relocated to Rochester toward the end of their existence. The Mohawk Giants were a Schenectady New York based team and the Newark Eagles were organized in Newark, NJ. The team logos for the Mohawk Giants, New York Cubans and Newark Eagles were painted on Hinchliffe’s field. At some point in the field’s history, it was covered with Astroturf, likely protecting the logos long after the teams were disbanded. Major league baseball began desegregating in 1946, when Jackie Robinson was signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Soon after many of the Negro Leagues best players were integrated into the majors leading to a decline in Negro game attendance and the end of the Negro leagues in 1952.
View Attachment
Midget Cars Racing at Hinchliffe Stadium, ca. 1947
Other Events Hosted at Hinchliffe
Since this post is about a baseball stadium, I’m not going to dwell too much on the other illustrious events once held at the venue; however, they do merit mentioning. The Patterson New Jersey racing events held at Hinchliffe were for motorcycle and midget cars. Some of the well-known drivers to race here were Dutch Schaefer, Rex Records and Ted Horn. Football teams that called Hinchliffe home were the Silk City Bears, Paterson Giants and Paterson Nighthawks. The stadium also hosted high school football games. Diamond Gloves boxing (predecessor to Golden Gloves) matches were held at the stadium starting in the late 1930s and lasted at least into the mid 1940s. I couldn’t find very much on concerts hosted at the stadium but acts like Duke Ellington and Lee Castle were featured there.
Experiencing the Abandoned Hinchliffe Stadium
Unlike many of the places I have visited, the interesting features of this place were mostly confined to architectural elements and the scale of the place. So, a lot of what made the site interesting is still intact since there wasn’t as much to vandalize or steel for scrap. That said, there was evidence arsine and I could tell that there had once been a lot more graffiti. Walking around the stadium was like looking in a window through time to a past era. As I wandered through the bleachers it was easy to imagine the roar of the crowd and spectacle of the game below. This place was once full of life; hopefully someday that vitality will return.
Clippers Note: Since being remodeled and opened, Hinchliffe Stadium is now the home of the New Jersey Jackals baseball team.
I used to have relatives in Paterson. I have no idea if I still do or not. It’s been a long time. Now that the Negro Leagues have been proclaimed major leagues I wonder if the crowds then felt as though they were watching anything special?… Here was a lot of pro baseball being played in the NJ-NY Metro area at that time. It might be so. It was their game and players, only the ball was white.The Yankees had their great AA team, the Newark Bears, the Giants had a AA team in Jersey City, plus the 3 MLB teams in NYC. Check out Fred Lieb's great basebook "Only the Ball was white." |
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