Monday, October 27, 2008
Hartford-Related Stuff
My mom and I will be at the library in West Hartford tomorrow night, Tuesday, Oct. 28th, at 7 PM, for a reading/signing. More info at the Dirty Water blog.
That brings me to the latest old ballpark. Hartford had a National League team in the league's first season, 1876. The Dark Blues moved the Brooklyn the following year before disbanding. Their park was the Hartford Ball Club Grounds, and it lived riiiiiight...here:
View Larger Map
This was another tough one to get the exact footprint of. The page I linked above mentions the church built by Samuel Colt's wife, which is still there. And it says how Hendricxsen Ave used to run right past there, and that the corner of it and Wyllys Ave was where the park was. It also mentioned a bird's eye view drawing which showed in-play trees. I had almost given up looking for an 1876-ish Hartford map, and then I found the exact one they were talking about. I see the trees, and the little diamond, right out in front of the church, with the old Hendricxsen Ave running along the third base line. Click the link, then click once on it to enlarge. Then go to the H in Hartford at the bottom. Go straight up to the twin sailboats, then go from there toward 11:00 for about two inches. There's the chucrh, and a field facing south (left is south on this map) with players on it.
So I put a "field" in there--I don't know what the distances to the fences were, or precisely where home was, so I just kind of made something up.
That brings me to the latest old ballpark. Hartford had a National League team in the league's first season, 1876. The Dark Blues moved the Brooklyn the following year before disbanding. Their park was the Hartford Ball Club Grounds, and it lived riiiiiight...here:
View Larger Map
This was another tough one to get the exact footprint of. The page I linked above mentions the church built by Samuel Colt's wife, which is still there. And it says how Hendricxsen Ave used to run right past there, and that the corner of it and Wyllys Ave was where the park was. It also mentioned a bird's eye view drawing which showed in-play trees. I had almost given up looking for an 1876-ish Hartford map, and then I found the exact one they were talking about. I see the trees, and the little diamond, right out in front of the church, with the old Hendricxsen Ave running along the third base line. Click the link, then click once on it to enlarge. Then go to the H in Hartford at the bottom. Go straight up to the twin sailboats, then go from there toward 11:00 for about two inches. There's the chucrh, and a field facing south (left is south on this map) with players on it.
So I put a "field" in there--I don't know what the distances to the fences were, or precisely where home was, so I just kind of made something up.
Labels: old ballpark locations
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