Broad Street Park (II) - Richmond, VA

Broad Street Park (II) was used by the Richmond Spiders from 1913-1916; it replaced Broad Street Park (I) and was replaced by a combination of Boulevard Field and Richmond's home field, built in 1914 but rarely, if ever, used for football during that time.

Overall, NC State had a record of 0-1 at this field, losing their sole game, which was played as a neutral site nonconference game.

Date Opponent Time Ranking Result Attendance Length Comments
11/8/1913 vs Virginia Military Institute * 3 PM - L, 7 - 14 3,000 60 min.

  * Non-conference games

After years of baseball on a somewhat precarious site, leased from a group of railroads on land slated for future rail expansion, the inevitable happened, and in December 1912 Broad Street Park was moved a few blocks down the street to which it owes its name. The boundaries of the new location, comprising the northeastern portion of the original location of the Hermitage Golf Course, could be found as follows: "starting at the eastern extremity of the Hermitage Golf Club and stepping off in a westerly direction 400 yards, then forming a right angle with the line thus marked, stepping off 400 more yards to the north, and so on, completing the square and arriving at the starting point" [2] [5]. Modern research locates the park more specifically "on Broad at the intersection with Addison Street" (now Strawberry St) [3].

The new park notably did not plan to use the old, dilapidated stands and bleachers from the previous location, with early plans calling for concrete and iron, though it seems as if that idea was tied into plans to play on the State Fair Grounds which did not come to fruition [4]. The new grandstands did actually receive the press boxes which the first park promised but failed to deliver on (much to the delight of the local press -- their addition was heavily covered), as well as an up-to-date clubhouse with extra room between lockers, as well as hot and cold showers [6] [7]. I found no period estimate of the size of the new grandstand, but it was generally agreed to be slightly- to moderately-larger than the old one; retrospective research indicates it held 1,987 spectators, with the park holding an additional unspecified amount of bleacher seating [8] [3]. The clubhouse generally lagged behind construction; so much so that team manager Steve Griffin "fell through the incomplete clubhouse [floor] and cracked his ribs" on the first day of practice [3].

The park may have opened on March 15th -- several advertizements were made regarding a game of baseball between the Virginia Medical College and the Richmond Blues, a military organization -- but no post-game reports have been found (VMC's yearbook reports no such game, but does note a game against McGuire's School which cannot be located in Richmond papers). Otherwise, the first game was one held on March 18th between the Medicos and the Union Theological Seminary; the Presbyterians won by an astounding thirty to nothing [9].

Though the park was still fairly new in December 1914, when Richmond brought the Climbers (formerly the Baltimore Orioles) of the International League to town, the park was upgraded significantly, with the grandstands expanding to seat 2,546, as well as an up-to-date clubhouse with accomodations for visiting teams, in addition to the implementation of turnstiles. The expanded stadium's capacity was about 7,500 [3].

The International League's expansion to Richmond, largely caused by the incursion of the Federal League upon Baltimore, proved to be chaotic, as the Baltimore Terrapins folded; that brought the Climbers back to Baltimore, where the resumed being known as the Orioles. With the Climbers' departure in December 1915, the former team manager, Jack Dunn, convinced the Jersey City Skeeters to relocate to Richmond, but then took the best players and reclaimed his spot in Baltimore, leaving a barren team behind in Richmond [3].

In February 1917, the park's 3-year lease with the local railroad interests came to an end, just as it had been in 1912, so the companies could expand; this time, the railroads were constructing a new rail passenger terminal -- this became Broad Street Station. The local sports teams were forced to move once again, this time to Boulevard Field. To help prevent the same issue from rearing its head again, the Climbers' ownbership, led by Ben W. Wilson, became the sole owner of the grounds [3].


A map showing the approximate location of Broad Street Park (II) on the 1905 Sanborn Fire Map of Richmond. The green box 91 shows the location of the Hermitage Golf Club. The park's original location was in the red triangle noted 53 [1]

Approximate location of Broad Street Park (II) on a modern map of Richmond.

Photos of Broad Street Park (II)


The Spiders practicing in 1913. You can see the edge of the first base-side grandstands in the background [10]


A view of the third base-side covered bleachers, and perhaps a bit of the grandstand, can be seen in the distance of the first picture from the 1913 NC State-VMI game. A second image from the 1913 UNC-UVA game shows another angle of the same stands [16]

An action shot from the 1913 Virginia-Carolina game [11]

The first of four shots from the 1914 Virginia-Carolina game featured in UNC's yearbook. This one shows UVA's Mayer going through the line for one of his two touchdowns on the day [12]

The second of four shots from the 1914 Virginia-Carolina game featured in UNC's yearbook [12]

The third of four shots from the 1914 Virginia-Carolina game featured in UNC's yearbook. This one presents the best views of the grandstands I've come across [13]

The final of four shots from the 1914 Virginia-Carolina game featured in UNC's yearbook. This one does a good job of showing the advertizements on the far side of the field [13]

Another image of the 1914 UNC-UVA football game showing an extended shot of the sidelines [17]

A scene from the 1915 Virginia-Carolina game [14]

A panorama of the field, from the fourth and final Virginia-Carolina game there, in 1916 [15]

One of the best views of Broad Street Park's grandstand, from the inaugural game of the 1916 International League season between the Richmond Climbers and the Buffalo Bisons; Richmond won 5-2 (7 innings) and were watched by 5,000 despite intermittent showers [18]


Last updated: 7/23/2024