History
The wooden stands at the Giants' ballpark burned in April 1911. John T. Brush quickly rebuilt them in concrete and steel, designed by Henry B. Herts, and the new park opened on June 28, 1911. Brush hoped it would be called Brush Stadium, but the old Polo Grounds name stayed in use.
After its 1923 expansion it had a bathtub shape, with short foul lines (unofficially 279 and 258 feet) and a very deep center field. The Yankees were tenants from 1913 to 1922, and expansion in 1923 made it one of the largest venues in the city. The NFL Giants played there for three decades.
Two of baseball's most famous moments happened there: Bobby Thomson's pennant-winning home run in 1951 and Willie Mays' catch in the 1954 World Series. The baseball Giants left for San Francisco after 1957.
The expansion Mets and the AFL Titans/Jets brought the park back into use from 1962 and 1960. The last event was a Jets game in December 1963, and demolition began in April 1964. The Polo Grounds Towers housing project now stands on the site.
Why it matters: It was home to the New York Giants for nearly half a century and the setting of some of baseball's best-known plays.
Timeline
- April 14, 1911
A fire just after midnight destroyed the wooden grandstand of the earlier Polo Grounds on the same site.
- June 28, 1911
Christy Mathewson shut out Boston 3–0 in the first game at the new concrete-and-steel stands.
- October 3, 1951"Shot Heard 'Round the World"[1]
Bobby Thomson's walk-off home run won the National League pennant playoff for the Giants.
- 1954Willie Mays' World Series catch[1]
In Game 1 of the 1954 World Series, Mays made his over-the-shoulder catch of Vic Wertz's drive in deep center field.
- September 29, 1957Giants' last game in New York[2]
The Giants played their final game before 11,606 fans and then moved to San Francisco.
- September 18, 1963
The Mets lost 5–1 to Philadelphia in the last major league game at the park.
- December 14, 1963Last sporting event[1]
The Jets lost to Buffalo 19–10 in the final event of any kind at the stadium.
- April 10, 1964
Wreckers began taking the stadium down, a job SABR says ran more than four months.
The site today
| Physical status | Site redeveloped[1,2] |
|---|---|
| Current use | Polo Grounds Towers, a New York City Housing Authority public housing complex opened in 1968[1] |
| Surviving remnants | The John T. Brush Stairway, which descended Coogan's Bluff toward the ballpark, survives; it reopened after restoration in August 2014.[1] |
| Mapped location | Former venue site |
Street View near the former site · Satellite view (external, current imagery)
Teams & events
| New York Giants | National League · 1911–1957 |
|---|---|
| New York Giants | National League · 1925–1955 |
| New York Titans/Jets | AFL · 1960–1963 |
| New York Mets | National League · 1962–1963 |
| New York Yankees | American League · 1913–1922 · tenant |
Listed here are organizations that used this physical venue. A franchise's history and a venue's history are tracked separately.
Venue facts
| Other names | Brush Stadium (1911–1919); Polo Grounds IV; The Bathtub |
|---|---|
| Location | West 155th St. at Frederick Douglass Blvd. (Eighth Ave.) and Harlem River Drive, in Coogan's Hollow below Coogan's Bluff, Upper Manhattan, New York (Manhattan), New York[1,2] |
| Venue type | Ballpark |
| Sports | Baseball, Football, Boxing & wrestling |
| Level | MLB, NFL, AFL |
| Opened | June 28, 1911[1,2] |
| Last used for sports | September 18, 1963[1,2] |
| Demolished | 1964[1,2] |
| Physical status | Site redeveloped |
| Original capacity | 34,000[1,2] |
| Final capacity | 56,000[1,2] |
| Capacity notes | The Wikipedia infobox gives 34,000 for the 1911 reopening and 55,000 by 1923, and a later table gives 56,000 for 1953–1963. SABR says 16,000 seats were ready on reopening day (34,000 for the 1911 World Series), and over 82,000 attended the 1923 Dempsey–Firpo fight. |
| Architect | Henry B. Herts[1] |
| Surface | Grass |
| Owner / operator | New York Giants (John T. Brush and successors) |
| Closure | The Giants left for San Francisco after 1957. Shea Stadium replaced it as the home of the Mets and Jets in 1964, and the site was cleared for public housing. |
Documented details
Connected venues
- Related venue: Yankee Stadium · The Yankees were Polo Grounds tenants through 1922 and opened Yankee Stadium in 1923.1923–2008
- Replaced by: Shea Stadium · The Mets and Jets moved to Shea Stadium in 1964 (per Wikipedia). Shea is defunct and listed as a research candidate.1964–2008
- Related venue: Yankee Stadium · The Yankees were Polo Grounds tenants from 1913 to 1922 before moving here.1923–2008
Sources
- Polo Grounds, Wikipedia. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: address, architect, capacity, closed, coordinates, current land use, demolished, events, opened, remnants, teams
- Polo Grounds (New York), Society for American Baseball Research (Stew Thornley). Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: address, capacity, closed, demolished, opened
Research confidence
Key facts on this page (opening, closing, status and location) are each supported by sources, with key dates corroborated by at least two independent sources. Last reviewed 2026-10-19.
Where sources disagree (3)
- Capacity at the 1911 reopening: Wikipedia 34,000 vs SABR 16,000 seats available on opening day.
- Exact demolition start (April 10, 1964) is from Wikipedia only; SABR gives April 1964.
- Last baseball game: the Mets' final game was 1963-09-18, but SABR and Wikipedia both note a Latin American All-Star exhibition on 1963-10-12; the final sporting event was a Jets game on 1963-12-14.
See something wrong or missing? Suggest a correction or submit a source.