Yankee Origins…The Highlanders and Hilltop Park

(Zell's Pinstripe Blog)

Hilltop Park was the original home of the New York Yankees. It’s formal name was American League Park. The park was located in Washington Heights, NY. The ballpark was built in just six weeks, which is crazy considering how long it takes for them to build them nowadays. The stadiums today are way more advanced and take a lot more technology and time to create. The Yankees, who at the time were known as the “Highlanders” played in that park from 1903-1912. 

The ballpark site was 9.6 acres, and was considered large for that time. The last game was played there on October 5, 1912. The Highlanders moved into the rebuilt Polo Grounds after it burnt down in 1911, and they dropped the nickname Highlanders, and took the name “Yankees.” The park was demolished in 1914.

Hilltop Park isn’t there any longer, but instead the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center lies where the stadium once stood. A plaque was donated by the NY Yankees to mark the location of where home plate was. It was a bronze plaque which was the exact same size as home plate.

It reads….

“Dedicated to Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and the community of Washington Heights by the New York Yankees to mark the exact location of home plate in Hilltop Park, home of the New York Highlanders, from 1903 to 1912, later renamed the New York Yankees.”

Hilltop Park Information

Former Names: American League Park

Location: Broadway between 165th & 168th St., New York, NY

Opened: April 30, 1903 

Closed: October 5, 1912

Demolished: 1914

Owner: Frank Farrell

Surface: Grass

Construction Cost:$200,000 USD *mostly from rockblasting and excavations

Capacity: 16,000 seated with 10,000 standing

Field Dimensions: Left Field - 365 ft (111.2 m), Left Center - 378 ft (115.2 m), Center Field - 420 ft (128 m), Right Center - 424 ft (129 m) (129.2), Right Field - 385 ft (117.3 m), Backstop - 91 ft (27.7 m)