Madison Square Garden (1879)
Encyclopedia
Madison Square Garden was an arena
in New York City
located at East 26th Street and Madison Avenue
in Manhattan
. The first venue to use that name, it had a seating capacity
of 10,000 spectators. It operated from 1879 to 1890, when it was replaced with a new building
on the same site.
passenger depot before being leased to P.T. Barnum when the depot moved uptown in 1871. Barnum converted it into an oval arena 270 feet (82.3 m) long, with seats and benches in banks, that he called the "Great Roman Hippodrome", where he presented circuses and other performances. The roofless building, which was also called "Barnum's Monster Classical and Geological Hippodrome," was 420 feet (128 m) by 200 feet (61 m).
In 1876 the open-air arena was leased to band leader Patrick Gilmore
, who renamed it "Gilmore's Garden" and presented flower shows, beauty contests, music concerts, temperance and revival meetings, and the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
, called at the time (1877) the "First Annual N.Y. Bench Show." Gilmore also presented boxing
, but since competitive boxing matches were technically illegal at the time, he called them "exhibitions" or "illustrated lectures."
The next to lease the space was W. M. Tileston, who was an official of the dog show. He attempted to attract a more genteel crowd with tennis
, a riding school and an ice carnival – the arena had one of the first indoor ice rinks in the United States.
took back control and announced the renaming of the arena to "Madison Square Garden" on May 31, 1879. Vanderbilt presented sporting events such as indoor track and field
meets, a convention of Elks, the National Horse Show
and more boxing, including some bouts featuring John L. Sullivan
, who began a four-year series of exhibitions on July 1882, drawing over-capacity crowds. P.T. Barnum also used the Garden to exhibit Jumbo
, the elephant he had bought from the London Zoo
; he drew sufficient business to recover the $10,000 pricetag.
Another notable use of the first Garden was as a velodrome
, an oval bicycle racing track with banked curves. At the time, bicycle racing was one of the biggest sports in the country. "Races testing speed and endurance drew huge crowds, with the top riders among the sports stars of their day. The bike races at Madison Square Garden were all the rage around the turn of the 20th century. A velodrome circuit flourished around the country, with the best racers earning $100,000 to $150,000 a year at a time when carpenters were lucky to make $5,000." Madison Square Garden was the most important bicycle racing track in the United States and the Olympic discipline known as the Madison
is named after the original Garden.
Unfortunately, the roofless Garden was hot in the summertime and freezing in the wintertime. Vanderbilt eventually sold what Harper's Weekly
called his "patched-up grumy, drafty combustible, old shell" to a syndicate that included J. P. Morgan
, Andrew Carnegie
, James Stillman
and W. W. Astor, who closed it to build a new arena designed by noted architect Stanford White
. Demolition began in July 1889, and the second Madison Square Garden
, which cost more than a half-million dollars to build, opened on June 6, 1890. It was demolished in 1926, and the New York Life Building
, designed by Cass Gilbert
and completed in 1928, replaced it on the site.
Arena
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
located at East 26th Street and Madison Avenue
Madison Avenue (Manhattan)
Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square to the Madison Avenue Bridge at 138th Street. In doing so, it passes through Midtown, the Upper East Side , Spanish Harlem, and...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. The first venue to use that name, it had a seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
of 10,000 spectators. It operated from 1879 to 1890, when it was replaced with a new building
Madison Square Garden (1890)
Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the second by that name, and the second to be located at 26th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan...
on the same site.
Before the Garden
The building that became Madison Square Garden was originally the New York and Harlem RailroadNew York and Harlem Railroad
The New York and Harlem Railroad was one of the first railroads in the United States, and possibly also the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and 1852 between Lower Manhattan to and beyond Harlem...
passenger depot before being leased to P.T. Barnum when the depot moved uptown in 1871. Barnum converted it into an oval arena 270 feet (82.3 m) long, with seats and benches in banks, that he called the "Great Roman Hippodrome", where he presented circuses and other performances. The roofless building, which was also called "Barnum's Monster Classical and Geological Hippodrome," was 420 feet (128 m) by 200 feet (61 m).
In 1876 the open-air arena was leased to band leader Patrick Gilmore
Patrick Gilmore
Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore was an Irish-born composer and bandmaster who lived and worked in the United States after 1848. Whilst serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, Gilmore wrote the lyrics to the song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home", the tune he took from an old Irish antiwar folk...
, who renamed it "Gilmore's Garden" and presented flower shows, beauty contests, music concerts, temperance and revival meetings, and the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is a two-day, all-breed benched conformation show that takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York City every year. The first Westminster show was held in 1877....
, called at the time (1877) the "First Annual N.Y. Bench Show." Gilmore also presented 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...
, but since competitive boxing matches were technically illegal at the time, he called them "exhibitions" or "illustrated lectures."
The next to lease the space was W. M. Tileston, who was an official of the dog show. He attempted to attract a more genteel crowd with tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, a riding school and an ice carnival – the arena had one of the first indoor ice rinks in the United States.
A final renaming
After the death of Commodore Vanderbilt, who owned the site, his grandson William Kissam VanderbiltWilliam Kissam Vanderbilt
William Kissam Vanderbilt was a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family. He managed railroads and was a horse breeder.-Biography:...
took back control and announced the renaming of the arena to "Madison Square Garden" on May 31, 1879. Vanderbilt presented sporting events such as indoor track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
meets, a convention of Elks, the National Horse Show
Horse show
A Horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most horse shows run from one to three days, sometimes longer for major, all-breed events or national and...
and more boxing, including some bouts featuring John L. Sullivan
John L. Sullivan
John Lawrence Sullivan , also known as the Boston Strong Boy, was recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing from February 7, 1881 to 1892, and is generally recognized as the last heavyweight champion of bare-knuckle boxing under the London Prize Ring rules...
, who began a four-year series of exhibitions on July 1882, drawing over-capacity crowds. P.T. Barnum also used the Garden to exhibit Jumbo
Jumbo
Jumbo was a large African Bush Elephant, born 1861 in the French Sudan – present-day Mali – imported to a Paris zoo, transferred to the London Zoo in 1865, and sold in 1882 to P. T...
, the elephant he had bought from the London Zoo
London Zoo
London Zoo is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. It was eventually opened to the public in 1847...
; he drew sufficient business to recover the $10,000 pricetag.
Another notable use of the first Garden was as a velodrome
Velodrome
A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights...
, an oval bicycle racing track with banked curves. At the time, bicycle racing was one of the biggest sports in the country. "Races testing speed and endurance drew huge crowds, with the top riders among the sports stars of their day. The bike races at Madison Square Garden were all the rage around the turn of the 20th century. A velodrome circuit flourished around the country, with the best racers earning $100,000 to $150,000 a year at a time when carpenters were lucky to make $5,000." Madison Square Garden was the most important bicycle racing track in the United States and the Olympic discipline known as the Madison
Madison (cycling)
The madison is a team event in track cycling, named after the first Madison Square Garden in New York, and known as the "American race" in French and in Italian and Spanish as Americana.-History:...
is named after the original Garden.
Unfortunately, the roofless Garden was hot in the summertime and freezing in the wintertime. Vanderbilt eventually sold what Harper's Weekly
Harper's Weekly
Harper's Weekly was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor...
called his "patched-up grumy, drafty combustible, old shell" to a syndicate that included J. P. Morgan
J. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric...
, Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
, James Stillman
James Stillman
James Jewett Stillman was an American businessman who invested in land, banking, and railroads in New York, Texas, and Mexico.-Biography:...
and W. W. Astor, who closed it to build a new arena designed by noted architect Stanford White
Stanford White
Stanford White was an American architect and partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. He designed a long series of houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings, some of which can be found...
. Demolition began in July 1889, and the second Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden (1890)
Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the second by that name, and the second to be located at 26th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan...
, which cost more than a half-million dollars to build, opened on June 6, 1890. It was demolished in 1926, and the New York Life Building
New York Life Building
The New York Life Insurance Building, New York, located at 51 Madison Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, across from Madison Square Park, is the headquarters of the New York Life Insurance Company.- History :...
, designed by Cass Gilbert
Cass Gilbert
- Historical impact :Gilbert is considered a skyscraper pioneer; when designing the Woolworth Building he moved into unproven ground — though he certainly was aware of the ground-breaking work done by Chicago architects on skyscrapers and once discussed merging firms with the legendary Daniel...
and completed in 1928, replaced it on the site.
See also
- Madison SquareMadison SquareMadison Square is formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for James Madison, fourth President of the United States and the principal author of the United States Constitution.The focus of the square is...
- Madison Square Garden (1890)Madison Square Garden (1890)Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the second by that name, and the second to be located at 26th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan...
- Madison Square Garden (1925)Madison Square Garden (1925)Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the third of that name. It was built in 1925 and closed in 1968, and was located on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Manhattan on the site of the city's trolley car barns. It was the first Garden that was not located near...
- Madison Square GardenMadison Square GardenMadison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
- Madison Square Garden BowlMadison Square Garden BowlMadison Square Garden Bowl was the name of an outdoor arena in the New York City borough of Queens. Built in 1932, the arena hosted circuses and boxing matches. Its seating capacity was 72,000 spectators. It was eventually destroyed after years of disuse....