My Heart's in the Highlands...

Continuing my tour of things that aren't there anymore, I returned to Washington Hieghts this morning to visit the former site of Hill Top Park. Hill Top Park, so named because it was built on one of the highest points in Manhatten, was the home to the first American League team to be based in New York: The New York Highlanders. The name "Highlanders" had been picked to play off of the fact that the team was based so far north in Manhatten. As it happened the name was seen as being too long for Newspaper headlines and reporters began refering to the team by a nickname that also played on the teams "northern" home: The Yankees. The Highlanders made thier home in Hill Top Park from 1903 until 1912 when they began sharing the Polo Grounds (IV) with the NY Giants. They would stay at the Polo Grounds until 1923 when they would move into Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

New York Presbyterian Hospital (Formerly Columbia Presbyterian) now occupies the site where Hill Top Park once stood. Below are a couple of pictures I took of the plaque which marks the approximate location where Hill Top Park's home plate sat:





UPDATE:
For reference here are a couple pictures of Hilltop Park via Ballparks of Baseball:



Topic: baseball; New York Yankees