1894 by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Fire at South End

The first game at Boston’s home field, South End Grounds was played on May 16, 1871. The original stands were small and rectangular. Behind the right field area were residences and other buildings, and a narrow road called Berlin Street.

Columbus Avenue had not yet been constructed.

The second South End Grounds was opened on May 25, 1888.

Sometimes referred to as the "Grand Pavilion," it consisted of a large double decker grandstand behind home plate and uncovered stands stretching down the right and left field lines, as well as bleachers in right center field. The medieval style "witch's cap" turrets were a very popular decoration on public structures of the 1880s and 1890s. The ballpark seated 6,800. It was the only double decked baseball stadium ever built in Boston, apart from the rooftop seating which has turned the single decked Fenway Park into a de facto double deck ballpark. The portents for the 1894 Boston Beaneater season received a strong ominous hint when the stadium was destroyed in the Great Roxbury Fire of May 16, 1894, which began when children started a small fire beneath the right field bleachers, and spread and destroyed the stadium and 117 other buildings. During the rebuilding process, the Bostons played their home games at Congress Street Grounds.

1894