Heights History – Hilltop Park

BY Led Black (@Led_Black)

Did you know that on the location where Columbia University Medical Center (165th Street and Broadway) now stands there was once a baseball stadium that was the clubhouse for the team that would go on to become the NY Yankees?

That’s right, before the Yankees were the Yankees, they were the New York Highlanders and they played ball at Hilltop Park from 1903 to 1912.

The stadium eventually burned down and the land was purchased to create the hospital that now occupies the space. The Yankees dedicated a plaque to the hospital and the people of Washington Heights that marks the exact spot of home plate. The plaque reads “Dedicated to Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and the community of Washington Heights by the New York Yankees to mark the exact location of home plate in Hilltop Park, home of the New York Highlanders, from 1903 to 1912, later renamed the New York Yankees.”

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  • dj boy
    October 10, 2010 at 4:20 am

    That is an awesome part of Uptown history. I love being a Yankees fan and now knowing we live in a part of its history.

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  • Eric
    October 26, 2011 at 11:44 am

    Love the photos… one of the best parts of being a Yankee fan is knowing the history of the storied franchise.

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