From 1903 through 1911, the Boston Red Sox played their home games at the functional Huntington Avenue Grounds.
But by 1911, the venue had run its course and the wooden structure was deemed to be a fire hazard.
With his lease on the Huntington Avenue Grounds expiring, General Charles H. Taylor, publisher of TheBoston Globe and a real estate investor, began looking for property. He purchased an 8-acre parcel at auction for $120,000 from the Danas, one of the founding families of Massachusetts.
Bounded by Lansdowne Street to the north, Ipswich Street to the east and Jersey Street to the west, the largely undeveloped site was less than a mile from Huntington Avenue. It was located on the outskirts of the Fenway section of Back Bay, home to Boston's Opera House, Museum of Fine Arts and the winding gardens of Francis Olmstead.
"Unlike most of the Back Bay, that land was never under water," says Richard Johnson, curator of the The Sports Museum in Boston. "It was land that had actually been on the shoreline of the Charles (River). In terms of it being a viable piece of property to build a large and heavy structure like a ballpark, it was perfect."
One hundred years to the day of the first regular season game played at Fenway, the Red Sox commemorate the centennial anniversary Friday before an afternoon game against the New York Yankees. They have invited every living ex-Boston player and manager to the festivities.
"It's the Sistine Chapel of baseball," says Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy. "The new owners have done a great job improving it.
But by 1911, the venue had run its course and the wooden structure was deemed to be a fire hazard.
With his lease on the Huntington Avenue Grounds expiring, General Charles H. Taylor, publisher of TheBoston Globe and a real estate investor, began looking for property. He purchased an 8-acre parcel at auction for $120,000 from the Danas, one of the founding families of Massachusetts.
Bounded by Lansdowne Street to the north, Ipswich Street to the east and Jersey Street to the west, the largely undeveloped site was less than a mile from Huntington Avenue. It was located on the outskirts of the Fenway section of Back Bay, home to Boston's Opera House, Museum of Fine Arts and the winding gardens of Francis Olmstead.
"Unlike most of the Back Bay, that land was never under water," says Richard Johnson, curator of the The Sports Museum in Boston. "It was land that had actually been on the shoreline of the Charles (River). In terms of it being a viable piece of property to build a large and heavy structure like a ballpark, it was perfect."
One hundred years to the day of the first regular season game played at Fenway, the Red Sox commemorate the centennial anniversary Friday before an afternoon game against the New York Yankees. They have invited every living ex-Boston player and manager to the festivities.
"It's the Sistine Chapel of baseball," says Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy. "The new owners have done a great job improving it.
No comments:
Post a Comment