![Gill Stadium grandstand, 2004](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Gill_Stadium_grandstand%2C_2004.jpg)
Gill Stadium is a
sport
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...
ing
stadium located in
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644.
Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Ha ...
. It is one of the oldest concrete-and-steel ballparks in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. The venue, which mainly hosts amateur
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
and
football contests, has a capacity of 3,012.
Beech Street Grounds
Children and organized amateur teams had played baseball since at least 1880 in the area east of the
Valley Cemetery, which was known as "the Plains."
A ballpark called the Beech Street Grounds was built on the site of Gill Stadium at the corner of Beech and Valley Streets, on land owned by the
Amoskeag Manufacturing Company
The Amoskeag Manufacturing Company was a textile manufacturer which founded Manchester, New Hampshire, United States. From modest beginnings it grew throughout the 19th century into the largest cotton textile plant in the world.
At its peak, Amos ...
. The park had a wooden fence and two wooden grandstands. Its main entrance was located on Beech Street. This was near third base, and home plate was in the field's southwest corner.
[Scott C. Roper and Stephanie Abbot Roper, ''When Baseball Met Big Bill Haywood: The Battle for Manchester, New Hampshire, 1912–1916,'' McFarland and Company, Publishers, Inc., Jefferson NC, 2018. ] Baseball was played there between 1891 and 1894. In its first two years, the park was home to a minor-league baseball team, the Manchester Amoskeags of the
New England League
The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played intermittently in five of the six New England states (Vermont excepted) between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League B ...
.
Varick Park
In 1894, local businessman Thomas Varick purchased an interest in the park, moved the two grandstands and designated one as men-only, constructed a 40-foot-wide, quarter-mile dirt bicycle and running track, and renamed the complex Varick Park. The baseball diamond was reoriented so that home plate was along the west (Beech Street) side of the field and the entrance was off Valley Street. As well as baseball, the park hosted track-and-field events, football and soccer games, and outdoor events for Amoskeag.
During the 1890s, control of Varick Park passed from Varick to William Freeman. The park was again home to several minor-league baseball teams in the New England League
called the Manchester Amoskeags in 1891, the Manchesters in 1899, and the Manchester Textiles in 1906.
Textile Field
In June 1912, Amoskeag officials began negotiations with Freeman to take control of the park for use by the city manufacturers' baseball league. In December 1912, Amoskeag announced that the field had been renamed Textile Field and that it would be reoriented and completely rebuilt as a modern, brick-and-concrete baseball facility.
The current grandstand was built in 1913 at a cost of more than $30,000. It was designed by Amoskeag engineers using brick in the style and color of the mills in Amoskeag's millyard,
and built by the Amoskeag Textile Club, which was funded by Amoskeag and whose members were Amoskeag employees.
A single, covered grandstand was built, gently curved to provide for watching either baseball or football. For safety, concrete ramps were constructed along the sides and rear of the grandstand. Steel trusses and posts supported the roof. Although portions of the roof, floor, and some of the posts supporting the seating platform were of wood, publications from the period of construction — including Amoskeag's employee newspaper, the ''Amoskeag Bulletin'' — considered it "fireproof", like those being built in major-league cities between 1909 and 1915.
Textile Field was one of the first concrete-and-steel stadiums in the United States, the first not in a major city.
Only
Harvard Stadium
Harvard Stadium is a U-shaped college football stadium in the northeast United States, located in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The stadium is owned and operated by Harvard University and is home to the Harvard Crimson footb ...
in
Allston
Allston is an officially recognized neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was named after the American painter and poet Washington Allston. It comprises the land covered by the zip code 02134. For the most pa ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
(1903),
Rickwood Field
Rickwood Field, located in Birmingham, Alabama, is the oldest professional baseball park in the United States. It was built for the Birmingham Barons in 1910 by industrialist and team-owner Rick Woodward and has served as the home park for the Bi ...
in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
,
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...
(1910), and
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Bas ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Massachusetts (1912) are older surviving examples.
The construction appears to have been part of Amoskeag's benevolence programs.
Amoskeag, which employed about 17,000 people in a city of 65,000, included among its workforce a large number of immigrants. In the minds of Amoskeag managers, the most troublesome of this group were the most recent arrivals from
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
.
Recent immigrants from southern and eastern Europe were being blamed for the 1912
Bread and Roses Strike in nearby
Lawrence, Massachusetts, which resulted in much violence and the involvement of the radical
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...
union. Amoskeag, which was not unionized, wanted no such trouble, particularly in light of the fact that IWW operatives were seen in Manchester during the Lawrence strike.
The company hoped to find a way to "Americanize" its workforce, thereby giving workers a stronger connection to the company and to the United States, and to find diversionary activities, like baseball, to keep them from unionizing in their free time.
Amoskeag, along with the McElwain Shoe Company and other industries in Manchester, organized the city Manufacturers' League in 1912. The league played at three locations in Manchester, of which Varick Park was the most important. Its reconstruction in 1913 as Textile Field made the league seem more professional. Textile Field made its debut over
Memorial Day
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
weekend of 1913, but the grandstand was not entirely completed until late July.
The dedication game came on September 8, when the World Champion
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...
— playing its major-league lineup for nearly the entire game — defeated the Manufacturers' League All-Stars, 3-1.
A year later, the World Champion
Philadelphia Athletics
The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...
defeated the All-Stars, 7-1.
The score and the "vaudeville" act put on by the Athletics in the final inning — in which they changed positions and performed "trick" plays — made Amoskeag reconsider its commitment.
Increased on- and off-field problems with players, who were hired ostensibly to work for the textile company but in reality were employed for their baseball skills, also led the Textile Club to withdraw its support for the Manufacturers League.
A team from the
New England League
The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played intermittently in five of the six New England states (Vermont excepted) between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League B ...
moved from
Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Fitchburg is a city in northern Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The third-largest city in the county, its population was 41,946 at the 2020 census. Fitchburg is home to Fitchburg State University as well as 17 public and private e ...
to Textile Field in July 1914 as the Manchester Textiles. It played there in 1915 as well. Thereafter, Textile Field became the sole domain of the city's manufacturers and schools until 1926.
In September 1923, Amoskeag brought in the National League's
Brooklyn Robins (now known as the
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
) to play against the company team.
Athletic Field
Textile Field was purchased by the City of Manchester in 1927 and, in a name-the-field contest conducted by the ''
Manchester Union-Leader
The ''New Hampshire Union Leader'' is a daily newspaper from Manchester, the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. On Sundays, it publishes as the ''New Hampshire Sunday News.''
Founded in 1863, the paper was best known for the conse ...
'', renamed Athletic Field. Athletic Field hosted three professional teams of the New England League: The Manchester Blue Sox played there from 1926–1930, winning championships in 1926 and 1929, but the league folded in mid-1930. The Manchester Giants, affiliated with the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
, made the post-season in 1946 and 1947; and the
Manchester Yankees, affiliated with the
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...
, played there in 1948 but disbanded on July 19, 1949 for financial reasons.
Gill Stadium
In 1967, the stadium was renamed Gill Stadium, after former Parks and Recreation Director Ignace J. Gill, who served from 1935 to 1967.
In 1971 and 1972, an
Eastern League (class A) team, also called the Yankees, played there.
Additionally, the Eastern League's
Nashua Angels played a game at Gill Stadium in 1983.
The stadium was renovated extensively in preparation for the inaugural 2004 baseball season of the Eastern League's
New Hampshire Fisher Cats
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays major league club.
During the team's first seaso ...
(the class AA affiliate of the
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
), acquiring an aluminum floor and molded plastic chairs, new clubhouses adjacent to the grandstand, and dugouts in what was formerly the dirt track. An elevator provided handicapped access to the rooftop press box. The grass surface was replaced with
FieldTurf and the ticket booth and lavatories were renovated.
The Fisher Cats brought the 2004 Eastern League title home to Gill. In 2005, a new municipal baseball stadium — now known as
Delta Dental Stadium
Delta Dental Stadium is a stadium in Manchester, New Hampshire that holds 6,500 people. It is used primarily for baseball, and is the home field of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, an Eastern League baseball team. The first game played at the ball ...
— was completed along the
Merrimack River
The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Mas ...
near downtown, and the Fisher Cats made their scheduled move there.
Over the years, Gill Stadium has served as the home field for city high-school and
American Legion
The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...
ball clubs. The stadium hosted the American Legion World Series on five occasions. Gill Stadium continues to host numerous amateur baseball teams, and Manchester's annual
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...
football tournament, the Turkey Bowl, which pits two of the four city schools against each other each year based on their performance during the just-completed season.
On-site parking comprises 300 spaces, accessible from Beech Street.
Additional parking may be available just north at the adjacent
John F. Kennedy Memorial Coliseum
John F. Kennedy Memorial Coliseum is an indoor arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, United States. It hosted the Northeastern Hockey League's Cape Cod Freedoms in 1979. The arena holds 1,600 people and opened in 1963. It has hosted numerous even ...
, or on side streets.
References
External links
Gill Stadium Views - ''Ball Parks of the Minor Leagues''Scott and Stephanie Roper, "The Battle for Textile Field." ''Outside the Lines'' 12:2 (Summer 2006)
{{New Hampshire Fisher Cats
American football venues in New Hampshire
Baseball venues in New Hampshire
Buildings and structures in Manchester, New Hampshire
Minor league baseball venues
Sports venues in New Hampshire
1913 establishments in New Hampshire
Amoskeag Manufacturing Company
New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Sports venues completed in 1913