Broad Street Park, sometimes spelled Broad-Street Park, was the name for two

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

s located in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

. Broad Street Park (I) was open from 1897 to 1912 and Broad Street Park (II) was used from 1913 to 1916. They hosted

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

and

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

. Broad Street Park served as the home field for the

Richmond Spiders football The Richmond Spiders are a college football team representing the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. Richmond was the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision champion for the 2008 season. Richmond competes in CAA Football, a ...

team of Richmond College—now known as the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approxim ...

—from 1897 to 1916.

History

Broad Street Park opened in 1897 as the home field for the Richmond Bluebirds of Atlantic League. It was the largest athletic facility constructed in Richmond at the time, with a seating capacity over 6,000. Home plate was situated 80 feet from the grandstand. The field dimensions were 295 feet down the left field foul line and 340 feet down the right field foul line, with the fences extending to a distance of 560 feet from home place in right field. The stadium was located on Broad Street near its dead-end intersection with Allen Avenue on land leased from the

Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad The Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad was a railroad connecting Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. The track is now the RF&P Subdivision of the CSX Transportation system; the original corporation is no longer a railroad co ...

. It overlooked the railyard to the north. The first game at Broad Street Park was played on April 3, 1897, when the Richmond Bluebirds beat Richmond College by a score of 11 to 3. The first football game at Broad Street Park was played on October 2, 1897, between the Richmond Athletics and the

Richmond Spiders The Richmond Spiders represent the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. The Spiders compete in the Division I FCS of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. The Spider ...

of Richmond College. The

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

held spring training in Richmond in 1903; they practiced and played games at Broad Street Park.

References

{{Philadelphia Phillies Defunct college football venues Defunct minor league baseball venues Philadelphia Phillies spring training venues Richmond Spiders football Sports venues in Richmond, Virginia Baseball venues in Virginia College football venues in Virginia 1897 establishments in Virginia Sports venues completed in 1897 Baseball in Richmond, Virginia