Madison Square Garden (1890)

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Coordinates: 40°44′34″N 73°59′08″W / 40.74278°N 73.98556°W / 40.74278; -73.98556
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This article is about the former New York arena. For other uses, see Madison Square Garden (disambiguation).
Madison Square Garden II
David H. King, Jr.

Madison Square Garden (1890–1926) was an

Madison Square
.

History

The interior of Madison Square Garden at night, c. 1905

Madison Square Garden II, as it has come to be called in retrospect, was designed by noted architect

Trials of the Century
.

The new building, which replaced an antiquated

New York Times called "one of the great institutions of the town, to be mentioned along with Central Park and the bridge of Brooklyn" was $3 million.[3]

Augustus Saint-Gaudens' statue of Diana

Topping the Garden's tower was a statue of Diana, by noted sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens,[4] which caused Madison Square Park to become known as "Diana's little wooded park". One of the possible models for Diana was Julia Baird, a well-known artist's model.[5][4] The original gilt copper statue was 18 ft (5.5 m) tall, and weighed 1,800 lb (820 kg), and spun with the wind; Saint-Gaudens had draped the statue in cloth, but this was soon blown away.[2] The statue was put in place in 1891, but was soon thought to be too large by Saint-Gaudens and White. It was removed and placed on top of a building at The World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, but the bottom half was destroyed by a fire after the close of the Exposition, and the top half was lost. In 1893, a hollow second version of the statue, 13 ft (4.0 m) tall and made of gilded copper, replaced the original. This is now at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and a copy is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[2][6] Saint-Gaudens made several smaller variants in bronze, one of which was on display in the entryway of both Madison Square Garden III, built in 1925, and the current Madison Square Garden.

The opening of the new arena was attended by over 17,000 people – who paid up to $50 for tickets to the event – including

General William Tecumseh Sherman.[3]

Sports

Another view of the exterior

In 1902 and 1903, the Garden hosted the

Syracuse Athletic Club. The event returned to the Garden in 1903 for the second and final time. The 1903 series featured the Knickerbocker Athletic Club, Olympic Athletic Club, Oreos Athletic Club and Watertown Red & Black representing New York state. Meanwhile, the Orange Athletic Club represented New Jersey, and the Franklin Athletic Club represented western Pennsylvania. The Franklin Athletic Club would go on to claim the event's final title.[7]

On January 8, 1909, Matthew Maloney finished ahead of James Crowley and Sidney Hatch in an indoor marathon before 5,000 "wildly cheering" spectators held within the Garden.[8] Maloney was reported to have set a new indoor record for the event (2:54:45.4).[8]

The Millrose Games were first held at the arena in 1914.

The Garden continued to host The Westminster Kennel Club's annual dog show. This championship is the second longest running U.S. sporting event (behind only the Kentucky Derby).

Boxing has a long history at Madison Square Garden. The original Garden presented boxing matches even before they were technically legal, calling them "exhibitions" or "illustrated lectures". Among the many events which were held in the new Garden were a number of significant boxing match-ups. A bout between defending heavyweight champion Jess Willard and challenger Frank Moran on March 25, 1916, which brought in $152,000, the largest Garden take to that date.[3] Also, Jack Dempsey's knockout of Bill Brennan in the 12th round on December 14, 1920.[3]

Professional wrestling was also successfully staged at the venue, as with later incarnations of the Garden. The World Heavyweight Championship derives from George Hackenschmidt's victory in two straight falls at the Garden over Tom Jenkins on May 4, 1905.[9] Joe Stecher regained the championship from Earl Caddock at the venue on January 30, 1920,[10] the earliest American professional wrestling match to survive on film.[11] The venue also hosted the next two title changes, Ed "Strangler" Lewis' victory over Stecher on December 13, 1920, and his subsequent loss of the championship to Stanislaus Zbyszko on May 6, 1921.[12][13][14][15]

From 1899 until its demolition, Madison Square Garden hosted the Six Days of New York, an annual six-day racing event of track cycling.

Demolition

Despite its importance to the New York cultural scene in the early 20th century, Madison Square Garden II was never any more of a financial success than the original Garden was,[16] and the New York Life Insurance Company, which held the mortgage on it, decided to tear it down to make way for a new headquarters building, which would become the landmark Cass Gilbert-designed New York Life Building. Construction on the new building began in 1926, and was completed in 1928.

In popular culture

Madison Square Park
in this 1908 image.

See also

References

  1. New York Times
    . Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1-60354-055-1
    . (Reprinted by Scholarly Press, 1976; often referred to as WPA Guide to New York City.), pp.330–333
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Madison Square Garden II
  4. ^ a b Meyers, Tom; Young, Greg (February 19, 2010). "Madison Square Garden, World's Most Famous Arena(s)". theboweryboys.com. The Bowery Boys: New York City History. Archived from the original on October 18, 2010. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
  5. ^ Hinman, Suzanne (2019). The Grandest Madison Square Garden: Art, Scandal, and Architecture in Gilded Age New York. Syracuse University Press. pp. 268, 271. ...Julia Baird's claim was published, the Boston Herald reported that some seventeen women from various parts of the country each swore that it was she who had been the model
  6. ^ Information page at the Met's website
  7. ^ Carroll, Bob (1980). "The First Football World Series" (PDF). Coffin Corner. 2 (Annual). Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-18.
  8. ^ a b "Maloney Wins Marathon Race; Trinity A.C. Runner Beats Big Field in Madison Square Garden. COVERS COURSE IN 2:53:06 Winner in Rye to New York Race Scores a Popular Victory Before a Big and Wildly Cheering Crowd" (pdf). The New York Times. New York. November 9, 1909. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
  9. New York Times
    . 1905-05-05. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  10. New York Times
    . 1920-01-31. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  11. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Earl Caddock vs Joe Stecher (1920): Oldest Pro Wrestling on Film". YouTube.
  12. New York Times
    . 1920-12-14. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  13. ^ ""Strangler" Lewis Regains His Title". Hartford Courant. 1920-12-14. Archived from the original on 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  14. New York Times
    . 1921-05-06. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  15. ^ F4W Staff (May 6, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 6): Verne Gagne Vs. Danny Hodge, 1st Annual Von Erich Parade of Champions show". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 10, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ISBN 0-19-511634-8

External links

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