Hinchliffe Stadium
Encyclopedia
Hinchliffe Stadium is a historic 10,000-seat municipal stadium in Paterson, New Jersey
, built 1931-32 on a dramatic escarpment above Paterson's National Landmark Great Falls
, and surrounded by the city's National Landmark Historic District, the first planned industrial settlement in the nation (chartered 1792). It is one of only a handful of stadiums surviving nationally that once played host to significant Negro league baseball
during America's Jim Crow
era.
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, 1932-34.)
The stadium immediately played host to Negro League and "barnstorming" games.In 1933,the stadium's first complete season hosting baseball, Hinchliffe hosted the Colored Championship of the Nation, the Negro League equivalent of the World Series. That following year, the New York Black Yankees
made the stadium their home, a tenure that lasted till 1945 and was interrupted only once, when the team booked Triborough Stadium on Randall's Island
in New York for the 1938 season. Their return to Hinchliffe affirmed a now time-honored preference of great New York City sports teams for making their actual home in New Jersey. 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.
Hinchliffe became an important venue for boxing
(Diamond Gloves, precursor to the Golden Gloves), auto racing
(precursor to NASCAR
featuring pre-Indianapolis racing and midget car racing
events), and professional football. 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.)
Hinchliffe's traditional Thanksgiving
Day games often featured Paterson's classic Eastside
/Central [later JFK
] High School rivalry back-to-back with pro or semi-pro football. For several seasons the stadium also played host to the Clifton High School Fighting Mustangs and other local teams.
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 '70s 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 two seasons before moving to another venue for their third 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 '90s, Hincliffe Stadium fell into further and further disrepair due to underfunding and was eventually closed at the end of the 1996-97 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. Under a grant from the Paterson Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) the Friends successfully applied to place the stadium on the State and National Registers of Historic Places (2004). Again with HPC funding, they developed a website that tells Hinchliffe's colorful and illustrious history that was launched in 2006.
.
The voters of Paterson approved a ballot initiative to renovate the crumbling stadium in November 2009.. The Hinchliffe renovations are part of a large scale project which will also see renovations to Bauerle Field, the current home of Paterson's public high school football and track teams, and the Paterson Armory
; the majority of the money, nearly $13 million, will go to restoring Hinchliffe Stadium.
Some Negro League ballparks that are still standing or rebuilt elsewhere include:
Paterson, New Jersey
Paterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023...
, built 1931-32 on a dramatic escarpment above Paterson's National Landmark Great Falls
Great Falls (Passaic River)
The Great Falls of the Passaic River is a prominent waterfall, high, on the Passaic River in the city of Paterson in Passaic County in northern New Jersey in the United States. The Congress authorized its establishment as a National Historical Park in 2009...
, and surrounded by the city's National Landmark Historic District, the first planned industrial settlement in the nation (chartered 1792). It is one of only a handful of stadiums surviving nationally that once played host to significant Negro league baseball
Negro league baseball
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams predominantly made up of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in...
during America's Jim Crow
Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
era.
Early days
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 Mayor John Hinchliffe, for whom it is named. It opened on July 8, 1932, as a combination athletic facility for the Paterson Public SchoolsPaterson Public Schools
The Paterson Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in prekindergarten through twelfth grade from Paterson, New Jersey, United States...
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
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. (Many workers laid off from the mills found work under a New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
-financed program to provide enhancements to the stadium, 1932-34.)
The stadium immediately played host to Negro League and "barnstorming" games.In 1933,the stadium's first complete season hosting baseball, Hinchliffe hosted the Colored Championship of the Nation, the Negro League equivalent of the World Series. That following year, the New York Black Yankees
New York Black Yankees
The New York Black Yankees was a professional baseball team based in New York City, Paterson, NJ, and Rochester, NY which played in the Negro National League from 1936 to 1948. The Black Yankees played in Paterson, New Jersey from 1933-1937 and then from 1939-1945. The 1938 season saw the Black...
made the stadium their home, a tenure that lasted till 1945 and was interrupted only once, when the team booked Triborough Stadium on Randall's Island
Randall's Island
Randall's Island is situated in the East River in New York City, part of the borough of Manhattan. It is separated from Manhattan island on the west by the river's main channel, from Queens on the east by the Hell Gate, and from the Bronx on the north by the Bronx Kill. It is joined to Wards...
in New York for the 1938 season. Their return to Hinchliffe affirmed a now time-honored preference of great New York City sports teams for making their actual home in New Jersey. After World War II, the Black Yankees left Hinchliffe and took up residency at Red Wing Stadium in Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
. Hinchliffe was also home to the New York Cubans
New York Cubans
The New York Cubans were a Negro league baseball team that played during the 1930s and from 1939 to 1950. Despite playing in the Negro leagues, the team occasionally employed white-skinned Hispanic baseball players as well, because Hispanics in general were largely ignored by the major league...
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
Monte Irvin
Monford Merrill "Monte" Irvin is a former left fielder and right-handed batter in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball who played with the Newark Eagles , New York Giants and Chicago Cubs .-Biography:Although born in Haleburg, Alabama, Irvin grew up in Orange, New Jersey, one of five...
, Josh Gibson
Josh Gibson
Joshua Gibson was an American catcher in baseball's Negro leagues. He played for the Homestead Grays from 1930 to 1931, moved to the Pittsburgh Crawfords from 1932 to 1936, and returned to the Grays from 1937 to 1939 and 1942 to 1946...
, Oscar Charleston
Oscar Charleston
Oscar McKinley Charleston was an American center fielder and manager in baseball's Negro leagues from to ....
, and "Cool Papa" Bell, among many others. Hall-of-Famer Larry Doby
Larry Doby
Lawrence Eugene "Larry" Doby was an American professional baseball player in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball....
, 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
Eastside High School (Paterson, New Jersey)
Eastside High School is a four-year public high school in Paterson, New Jersey, United States, that serves the eastern section of Paterson. EHS, which serves grades 9 through 12, operates as part of the Paterson Public Schools....
, and was scouted from Hinchliffe for the Newark Eagles
Newark Eagles
The Newark Eagles was a professional Negro league baseball team that played in the second Negro National League from 1936 to 1948.- Formation :...
in 1942.
Hinchliffe became an important venue for boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
(Diamond Gloves, precursor to the Golden Gloves), auto racing
Auto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
(precursor to NASCAR
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
featuring pre-Indianapolis racing and midget car racing
Midget car racing
Midget cars, also Speedcars in Australia, are very small race cars with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four-cylinder engines.-Cars:Typically, these cars have 300 to 400 horsepower and weigh...
events), and professional football. Racers that appeared at Hinchliffe included Dutch Schaefer
Dutch Schaefer
Alan "Dutch" Schaefer was also the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in the original Predator movieEd "Dutch" Schaefer was an American racecar driver....
, Ted Horn
Ted Horn
Ted Horn , born Eylard Theodore Von Horn, was an American race car driver. He won the AAA National Championship in 1946, 1947 and 1948 and collected 24 wins, 12 second-place finishes and 13 third-place finishes in 71 major American open-wheel races prior to his death at the DuQuoin State...
, Bill Schindler
Bill Schindler
Bill Schindler was an American racecar driver.He began racing in 1931 in a sprint car. He was racing midget cars on the East Coast of the United States at their introduction in 1934...
, Art Cross
Art Cross
Art Cross was an American racecar driver. He was the first recipient of the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Award in 1952.-Racing career:...
, and Tex Keene. Victory Bond
War bond
War bonds are debt securities issued by a government for the purpose of financing military operations during times of war. War bonds generate capital for the government and make civilians feel involved in their national militaries...
rallies held at the stadium during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
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
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
. (Lou Costello was born and raised in Paterson's Eastside section.)
Hinchliffe's traditional Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
Day games often featured Paterson's classic Eastside
Eastside High School (Paterson, New Jersey)
Eastside High School is a four-year public high school in Paterson, New Jersey, United States, that serves the eastern section of Paterson. EHS, which serves grades 9 through 12, operates as part of the Paterson Public Schools....
/Central [later JFK
John F. Kennedy High School (Paterson, New Jersey)
John F. Kennedy High School is a four-year public high school in Paterson, New Jersey, United States, that serves the western section of Paterson. Kennedy High School, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Paterson Public Schools...
] High School rivalry back-to-back with pro or semi-pro football. For several seasons the stadium also played host to the Clifton High School Fighting Mustangs and other local teams.
Later Days
At first Hinchliffe, sometimes called "City Stadium," was municipally owned and only managed by the Paterson Schools. In 1963, as the schoolsPaterson Public Schools
The Paterson Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in prekindergarten through twelfth grade from Paterson, New Jersey, United States...
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 '70s 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
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
celebrations. Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
held one of his last major concerts here in 1971.
In 1983, the field received another upgrade under Mayor Frank X. Graves, Jr.
Frank X. Graves, Jr.
Frank Xavier Graves, Jr. was a American Democratic Party politician who is best known for serving two separate terms as Mayor of Paterson, New Jersey...
. These repairs made previously temporary stands permanent, added handicap access and storage facilities, and resulted in the installation of an Astroturf
AstroTurf
AstroTurf is a brand of artificial turf. Although the term is a registered trademark, it is sometimes used as a generic description of any kind of artificial turf. The original AstroTurf product was a short pile synthetic turf while the current products incorporate modern features such as...
field surface. In 1988 Hinchliffe Stadium became the home of the New Jersey Eagles
New Jersey Eagles
The New Jersey Eagles were an American soccer team founded in 1987 as the Cosmopolitan Eagles. In 1988, they entered the third American Soccer League as the New Jersey Eagles. They folded following the 1990 American Professional Soccer League season....
of the American Soccer League
American Soccer League
The American Soccer League has been a name used by three different professional soccer leagues in the United States. The first American Soccer League was established in 1921 by the merger of teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League. For...
, and the Eagles called the stadium home for two seasons before moving to another venue for their third 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 '90s, Hincliffe Stadium fell into further and further disrepair due to underfunding and was eventually closed at the end of the 1996-97 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. Under a grant from the Paterson Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) the Friends successfully applied to place the stadium on the State and National Registers of Historic Places (2004). Again with HPC funding, they developed a website that tells Hinchliffe's colorful and illustrious history that was launched in 2006.
Current Efforts
Hinchliffe Stadium continues on the public radar even as it continues to deteriorate. Former Mayor Jose Torres's non-binding bond resolution for restoring the stadium received round public endorsement on the local ballot in 2005. The Schools have shown interest in mounting a funding drive that will not only bring the stadium back to its former glory but envision it as both a multiplex sports facility (basketball, swimming, ice hockey) and a Sports Business Academy for the school district. There has been some discussion about making it an enhancement to New Jersey's planned "urban park" for the Great Falls. Some see a logical extension of landmark protection to the stadium, a project that would incorporate into a single thematic cultural landscape this cluster of three great historic sites: Paterson's Great Falls, the National Landmark Industrial District, and Hinchliffe Stadium. On May 19, 2010, the stadium was designated one of the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2010 by the National Trust for Historic PreservationNational Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is an American member-supported organization that was founded in 1949 by congressional charter to support preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods through a range of programs and activities, including the publication of Preservation...
.
The voters of Paterson approved a ballot initiative to renovate the crumbling stadium in November 2009.. The Hinchliffe renovations are part of a large scale project which will also see renovations to Bauerle Field, the current home of Paterson's public high school football and track teams, and the Paterson Armory
Paterson Armory
The Paterson Armory, an unused armory in Paterson, New Jersey, was formerly a facility of the New Jersey National Guard and an arena. The building at 461-473 Market Street is in a state of disrepair, though studies are underway to determine viability of future use.-Architecture and history:Paterson...
; the majority of the money, nearly $13 million, will go to restoring Hinchliffe Stadium.
See also
- Paterson Public SchoolsPaterson Public SchoolsThe Paterson Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in prekindergarten through twelfth grade from Paterson, New Jersey, United States...
- Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park
- Ruppert Stadium (Newark)Ruppert Stadium (Newark)Ruppert Stadium was a baseball stadium that formerly stood in Newark, New Jersey, in the area now known as the Ironbound. Originally named Davids' Stadium, it was home to the minor league Newark Bears of the International League from 1926 to 1949 and the Newark Eagles of the Negro Leagues from 1936...
Some Negro League ballparks that are still standing or rebuilt elsewhere include:
- Bush StadiumBush StadiumOwen J. "Donie" Bush Stadium is the name of a stadium formerly used by minor league baseball team Indianapolis Indians in Indianapolis, Indiana. Its street address is 1501 West 16th Street...
in Indianapolis, Indiana - Josh Gibson Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is still standing and was renovated in 2008.
- McCormick FieldMcCormick FieldMcCormick Field is a baseball stadium in Asheville, North Carolina. It is the home field of the Asheville Tourists minor league baseball team. As befits the hilly city of Asheville, the ballpark sits on a section of level ground partway up one of the city's hills, providing a picturesque atmosphere...
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 FieldRickwood FieldRickwood FieldFacility StatisticsLocation1137 2nd Avenue WestBirmingham, AlabamaBroke GroundSpring 1910Cost$75,000OpenedAugust 18, 1910SurfaceGrassOwnerCity of BirminghamTenantsBirmingham Barons 1910-1961...
in Birmingham, Alabama is still standing and is an active sports venue and museum.