Haight Street Grounds was one of San Francisco's earliest baseball parks; it was also used for college football. It opened in 1887 and was demolished in 1895.
History Haight Street Grounds was built for use by the California League and was located on the east side of Golden Gate Park, bounded by Stanyan, Waller, Shrader, and Frederick streets,1889 Sanborn map showing the "Cal'a league base ball grounds". San Francisco, 1886-1893, vol. 3, 1889, sheet 88f_a. Digital Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970. across Stanyan from the eventual Kezar Stadium complex. The opening game on April 3, 1887, between the Haverlys and the Pioneers, was attended by 10,000 fans.Lange, Fred W. History of Baseball in California and Pacific Coast Leagues 1847-1938: Memories and Musings of an Old Time Baseball Player. Oakland, CA, 1938. In 1893, the California League folded, and, in March 1895, plans were announced to use the ballpark land for residential development. The final baseball game at the grounds was played on March 10, 1895.
While built for baseball, Haight Street Grounds is noteworthy for being the birthplace of the Big Game, a now annual college football game between Stanford and California. It was the site of the first four Big Games, which were played on March 19, 1892; December 17, 1892; November 28, 1893; and November 29, 1894.Sheehan, Jack F. and Louis Honig. The Games of California and Stanford: Nine Years of Intercollegiate Athletic Contests. San Francisco: Commercial Publishing Company, 1900.
Notes
External links Most of the ballpark, on a Sanborn map, 1889
References
Further reading