History
Charles Davids built the stadium in 1926 for his International League Bears. After the New York Yankees bought the club in 1931, the park was renamed for Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert and enlarged,.
From 1936 to 1948 the park was shared with the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League. The Eagles clinched the 1946 Negro World Series at Ruppert Stadium with a seventh-game win over the Kansas City Monarchs.
The Eagles left after 1948 and the Bears after 1949. The Board of Education bought the stadium in 1952, and it was used for high school football, auto racing and boxing until it was leveled in 1967. Warehouses and industrial plants now cover the area.
Why it matters: It was the home of the 1946 Negro World Series champion Newark Eagles and of the Yankees' premier farm club.
Timeline
- 1926
Bears owner Charles Davids opened the stadium on a 15-acre plot in the Ironbound.
- January 1932
After the Yankees bought the Bears, the park was renamed for owner Jacob Ruppert and expanded.
- September 29, 1946Eagles win Negro World Series[2]
Before 19,000 fans, the Newark Eagles beat the Kansas City Monarchs 3-2 in the deciding game.
- 1949
The International League Bears played their final season.
- November 25, 1952
The Newark Board of Education bought the stadium for $275,000 for school sports.
- 1967
The stadium was leveled, and the land was sold the following year for industry.
The site today
| Physical status | Site redeveloped[1,2,3] |
|---|---|
| Current use | Industrial use; the land was sold in 1968 for a Vita Food Products plant[1,2,5] |
| Mapped location | Not yet mapped. The exact site has not been confirmed from a published source. |
Teams & events
| Newark Bears | International League · 1926–1949 |
|---|---|
| Newark Eagles | Negro National League · 1936–1948 |
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 | Davids' Stadium (1926–1931); Bears Stadium (1932–1933); Newark Stadium |
|---|---|
| Location | 258-262 Wilson Avenue (formerly Hamburgh Place), bounded by Avenue K, Avenue L and East Kinney Street, Ironbound, Newark, New Jersey[1,2,4,5] |
| Venue type | Ballpark |
| Sports | Baseball, Football, Motorsports, Boxing & wrestling |
| Level | Minor League, Negro Leagues |
| Opened | 1926[1,4] |
| Last used for sports | c. 1959[2] |
| Demolished | 1967[1,2,3] |
| Physical status | Site redeveloped |
| Original capacity | 12,000[1,2,4] |
| Final capacity | 19,000[1,2,4] |
| Capacity notes | 12,000 in 1926 and 19,000 after 1932 expansion (Wikipedia, SABR). Wikipedia elsewhere calls it a 14,000-seat stadium. |
| Construction cost | $125,000 (Wikipedia; SABR says this was the land price)[1] |
| Owner / operator | Charles A. Davids (builder); New York Yankees (1931-1952); Newark Board of Education / City of Newark (1952-1967) |
| Closure | Both professional tenants left by 1949; the aging stadium was later demolished and the land sold for industry. |
Documented details
Connected venues
Sources
- Ruppert Stadium (New Jersey), Wikipedia. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: address, capacity, construction cost, current land use, demolished, opened, teams
- Ruppert Stadium (Newark, NJ), Society for American Baseball Research. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: address, capacity, closed, current land use, demolished, teams
- Ruppert Stadium, Baseball-Reference (BR Bullpen). Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: demolished, teams
- Newark ballparks (Ruppert Stadium), Negro League Baseball Players Association. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: address, capacity, opened
- List of baseball parks in Newark, New Jersey, Wikipedia. Accessed 2026-10-19Supports: address, current land use
Research confidence
Some facts on this page rely on a single source or are still being corroborated. Treat specific dates and figures with care. Last reviewed 2026-10-19.
Where sources disagree (4)
- Origin: Stats Crew and BR Bullpen associate the park with Wiedenmeyer's Park; Wikipedia's Newark ballpark list places Wiedenmeyer's on the adjacent site.
- Address: 258 Wilson Ave (Wikipedia) vs 262 Wilson Ave (SABR, Stats Crew).
- Closing: no single date. Professional tenants left in 1948-1949; SABR mentions Newark Indians/NAL play in 1959 as a final year. 'Closed' is recorded as circa 1959.
- Name dates: Wikipedia says the Ruppert name came in January 1932 but lists Bears Stadium for 1932-1933.
See something wrong or missing? Suggest a correction or submit a source.