Historic sports-related sites located in and around Ridgewood Queens
| # | Historic Site | Description | Location | Years Active | Learn More |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arctic Oval | A baseball park that was home to the Glendale Tigers, a former farm team of the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers. | Formerly located north of Johnson Avenue and west of Varick Avenue | 1937 - 1957 | [1] |
| 2 | Arctic Park | A baseball park that was home to semi-pro teams, most notably the Empire City Athletic Association team and the Arctic Polar Bears. | Formerly located in the area bounded by Johnson Avenue, Gardner Avenue, Stewart Avenue, and Randolph Street | 1900s - 1930s | [1] [2] |
| 3 | Queens County Grounds | A picnic grounds turned horse racing track and baseball park that was home to the professional Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn of the Eastern League, another team called the Atlantic Club, and the semi-pro Acmes. | Formerly located south of Grand Avenue and west of 54th Street in Maspeth | 1884 - early 1900s | [1] [2] |
| 4 | Long Island Grounds | A baseball field that was the site of games involving many different professional teams, including the New York Giants of the National League, the New York Metropolitans and Brooklyn Gladiators of the American Association, the Long Island Base Ball Club of the Eastern League, and the Cuban Giants and New York Gorhams of the Negro leagues. | Formerly located north of Grand Avenue and west of 57th Street in Maspeth | 1880s - 1900s | [1] [2] [3] |
| 5 | Metropolitan Oval | Considered the oldest continuously used soccer field in the country, the Met Oval has hosted exhibition games involving professional teams from abroad, including Club Nacional de Football from Uruguay and Hamburger SV and VfB Stuttgart from Germany. | 60th St &, 60th Ct, Maspeth, NY 11378 | 1925 - present | [1] [2] [3] |
| 6 | Grover Cleveland High School | Longtime New York Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard began his career here as a high school speech teacher. | 21-27 Himrod St, Ridgewood, NY 11385 | 1931 - present | [1] [2] |
| 7 | The Referee Store | A sporting goods store featured in Season 1, Episode 5 of the HBO docuseries How to With John Wilson. | Formerly located at 451 Fairview Avenue | 2010s - 2020 | [1] |
| 8 | Suydam Oval | A baseball park that was home to the semi-pro Suydam Lorials. This spot was later used for trolley car storage, and it now serves as the athletic fields for Grover Cleveland Athletic High School. | Formerly located in the area between DeKalb Avenue, Cypress Avenue, Onderdonk Avenue, and Willoughby Avenue | 1900s? - 1920s? | [1] [2] |
| 9 | Meyerrose Park | A short-lived baseball park that was home to the semi-pro Ridgewoods, the Brooklyn Royal Giants of the Negro leagues, and the outlaw Brooklyn Bandits/Invaders of the Atlantic League and Union League. | Formerly located in the area bounded by Seneca Ave, Woodbine Street, Cornelia Street, and Woodward Avenue | 1907 - 1911 | [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] |
| 10 | Ridgewood Grove Arena | The second location of a longtime boxing and wrestling venue that was the site of the first televised indoor boxing match in 1939 on NBC. It hosted matches involving champion boxers like Sugar Ray Robinson, Willie Pep, and Rocky Marciano (who suffered his only loss here as an amateur). It reopened in the 1980s, hosting WWF events with wrestling stars like Andre the Giant, the Iron Sheik, and Sgt. Slaughter. | Formerly located at 341-343 St. Nicholas Avenue | 1926 - 1956, 1982 - 1985 | [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] |
| 11 | Grauer's Ridgewood Park | A baseball park inside of a larger picnic park that hosted professional baseball for only one season. The Brooklyn Grays of the American Association (later known as the Brooklyn Dodgers) played their Sunday home games here in 1886. | Formerly located along Myrtle Avenue, stretching along what is now Seneca Avenue and Myrtle Avenue to Summerfield Street | 1883 - 1887 | [1] [2] [3] [4] |
| 12 | Ridgewood Grove Sporting Club | The original location of a longtime boxing and wrestling venue that later became the Ridgewood Grove Arena. | Formerly located in the area bounded by Cypress Avenue, Seneca Avenue, George Street, and Weirfield Street | 1890s? - 1926 | [1] [2] |
| 13 | Wallace's Ridgewood Park | A picnic grounds turned baseball park that was used by the professional Brooklyn Grays/Bridegrooms of the American Association (later known as the Brooklyn Dodgers) for their Sunday home games from 1887 to 1889 and the professional Brooklyn Gladiators of the American Association in 1890. The park was later the home of the semi-pro Ridgewoods, the Brooklyn Royal Giants of the Negro leagues, and the semi-pro Bushwicks. The New York Highlanders of the American League (later known as the New York Yankees) played exhibition games here against the Ridgewoods. | Formerly located in the area bounded by Wyckoff Avenue, Covert Street, Halsey Street, and Irving Avenue | 1885 - 1959 | [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] |
| 14 | The Glendale Gnome | The childhood home of Hall of Fame New York Yankees shortstop and broadcaster Phil Rizzuto. | 78-01 64th St, Glendale, NY 11385 | 1920 - present | [1] [2] |
| 15 | The Circus Bar | After retiring from the Barnum & Bailey Circus, the world’s strongest woman Kati Sandwina opened a restaurant and tavern here. | Formerly located at 70-02 Cypress Hills Street | 1942 - 1952? | [1] [2] |
| 16 | Farmer's Oval | A baseball field that was home to the semi-pro Glendale Farmers Base Ball Club. Multiple Baseball Hall of Famers played here, including Grover Cleveland Alexander, Leo Durocher, Lou Gehrig, and Jud Wilson. | Formerly located in the area between 65th Place, 68th Avenue, and the train tracks | 1900s - 1947 | [1] [2] |
| 17 | Christ the King High School | Many notable professional athletes attended high school here, including Jose Alvarado, Speedy Claxton, and Lamar Odom of the NBA, Sue Bird, Tina Charles, and Chamique Holdsclaw of the WNBA (who were all #1 overall picks in the WNBA draft), and former New York Yankees pitchers Allen Watson and Steve Karsay. | 68-02 Metropolitan Ave, Middle Village, NY 11379 | 1962 - present | [1] |