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Madison Square Garden (1890)
Encyclopedia
Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City
, the second by that name, and the second to be located at 26th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan
. Built in 1890 and closing in 1925, the arena hosted numerous events, including boxing matches, orchestral performances, light operas and romantic comedies, the annual French Ball, both the Barnum and the Ringling
circuses, and the Democratic National Convention
in 1924, which nominated John W. Davis
after 103 ballots. It was replaced by the third Madison Square Garden
, the first to be located away from Madison Square
.
, who kept an apartment there. In 1906 White was murdered in the Garden's rooftop restaurant by millionaire Harry Kendall Thaw over White's affair with Thaw's wife, the well-known actress Evelyn Nesbit
, whom White seduced when she was 16. The resulting sensational press coverage of the scandal caused Thaw's trial to be one of the first Trials of the Century.
The new building, which replaced an antiquated open-air structure fhat was previously a railroad passenger depot
, was built by a syndicate which included J. P. Morgan
, Andrew Carnegie
, P. T. Barnum
, Darius Mills, James Stillman
and W. W. Astor. White gave them a Beaux-Arts structure with a Moorish feel, including a minaret-like tower modeled after Giralda
, the bell tower of the Cathedral of Seville – soaring 32 stories – the city's second tallest building at the time – dominating Madison Square Park. It was 200 feet (61 m) by 485 feet (147.8 m), and the main hall, which was the largest in the world, measured 200 feet (61 m) by 350 feet (106.7 m), with permanent seating for 8,000 people and floor space for thousands more. It had a 1200-seat theatre, a concert hall with a capacity of 1500, the largest restaurant in the city and a roof garden cabaret. The final cost for the building, which the 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.
Topping the Garden's tower was a statue of Diana
, by noted sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens
, which caused Madison Square Park to become known as "Diana's little wooded park". The original gilt copper statue was 18 ft (5.5 m) tall, and weighed 1800 lb (816.5 kg), and spun with the wind; Saint-Gaudens had draped the statue in cloth, but this was soon blown away. The statue was put in place on 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 Exhibition, and the top half was lost. In 1893 a hollow second version of the statue, 13 ft (4 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
. 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 J.P. Morgan, the Pierponts, the Whitneys and General William Tecumseh Sherman.
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:
, which is best remembered for showcasing the very first indoor professional football games. The event involved five teams, four from New York and one from New Jersey
. The 1902 contest was won by the Syracuse Athletic Club, while the Franklin Athletic Club
claimed the 1903 title.
, 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.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the second by that name, and the second to be located at 26th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Built in 1890 and closing in 1925, the arena hosted numerous events, including boxing matches, orchestral performances, light operas and romantic comedies, the annual French Ball, both the Barnum and the Ringling
Ringling Brothers Circus
The Ringling Brothers Circus was a circus founded in the United States in 1884 by five of the seven Ringling Brothers: Albert , August , Otto , Alfred T. , Charles , John , and Henry...
circuses, and the Democratic National Convention
1924 Democratic National Convention
The 1924 Democratic National Convention, also called the Klanbake, held at the Madison Square Garden in New York City from June 24 to July 9, took a record 103 ballots to nominate a presidential candidate. It was the longest continuously running convention in United States political history...
in 1924, which nominated John W. Davis
John W. Davis
John William Davis was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served as a United States Representative from West Virginia , then as Solicitor General of the United States and US Ambassador to the UK under President Woodrow Wilson...
after 103 ballots. It was replaced by the third Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden (1925)
Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the third of that name. It was built in 1925 and closed in 1968, and was located on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Manhattan on the site of the city's trolley car barns. It was the first Garden that was not located near...
, the first to be located away from Madison Square
Madison Square
Madison Square is formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for James Madison, fourth President of the United States and the principal author of the United States Constitution.The focus of the square is...
.
History
Madison Square Garden II, as it has come to be called in retrospect, was designed by noted architect Stanford WhiteStanford White
Stanford White was an American architect and partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. He designed a long series of houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings, some of which can be found...
, who kept an apartment there. In 1906 White was murdered in the Garden's rooftop restaurant by millionaire Harry Kendall Thaw over White's affair with Thaw's wife, the well-known actress Evelyn Nesbit
Evelyn Nesbit
Evelyn Nesbit was an American artists' model and chorus girl, noted for her entanglement in the murder of her ex-lover, architect Stanford White, by her first husband, Harry Kendall Thaw.-Early life:...
, whom White seduced when she was 16. The resulting sensational press coverage of the scandal caused Thaw's trial to be one of the first Trials of the Century.
The new building, which replaced an antiquated open-air structure fhat was previously a railroad passenger depot
Madison Square Garden (1879)
Madison Square Garden was an arena in New York City located at East 26th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan. The first venue to use that name, it had a seating capacity of 10,000 spectators...
, was built by a syndicate which included J. P. Morgan
J. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric...
, Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
, P. T. Barnum
P. T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum was an American showman, businessman, scam artist and entertainer, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the circus that became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus....
, Darius Mills, James Stillman
James Stillman
James Jewett Stillman was an American businessman who invested in land, banking, and railroads in New York, Texas, and Mexico.-Biography:...
and W. W. Astor. White gave them a Beaux-Arts structure with a Moorish feel, including a minaret-like tower modeled after Giralda
Giralda
thumb|right|The Giralda at its various stages of construction: Almohad , Medieval Christian , and Renaissance .The Giralda is a former minaret that was converted to a bell tower for the Cathedral of Seville in Seville...
, the bell tower of the Cathedral of Seville – soaring 32 stories – the city's second tallest building at the time – dominating Madison Square Park. It was 200 feet (61 m) by 485 feet (147.8 m), and the main hall, which was the largest in the world, measured 200 feet (61 m) by 350 feet (106.7 m), with permanent seating for 8,000 people and floor space for thousands more. It had a 1200-seat theatre, a concert hall with a capacity of 1500, the largest restaurant in the city and a roof garden cabaret. The final cost for the building, which the 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.
Topping the Garden's tower was a statue of Diana
Diana (Saint-Gaudens)
Diana, also known as Diana of the Tower, is a gilt copper statue, by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. A half size copy is located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.-History:...
, by noted sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Augustus Saint-Gaudens was the Irish-born American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who most embodied the ideals of the "American Renaissance"...
, which caused Madison Square Park to become known as "Diana's little wooded park". The original gilt copper statue was 18 ft (5.5 m) tall, and weighed 1800 lb (816.5 kg), and spun with the wind; Saint-Gaudens had draped the statue in cloth, but this was soon blown away. The statue was put in place on 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
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, but the bottom half was destroyed by a fire after the close of the Exhibition, and the top half was lost. In 1893 a hollow second version of the statue, 13 ft (4 m) tall and made of gilded copper, replaced the original. This is now at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...
, and a copy is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
. Saint-Gaudens made several smaller variants in bronze, one of which was on display in the entryway of both Madison Square Garden III
Madison Square Garden (1925)
Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the third of that name. It was built in 1925 and closed in 1968, and was located on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Manhattan on the site of the city's trolley car barns. It was the first Garden that was not located near...
, built in 1925, and the current Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
.
The opening of the new arena was attended by over 17,000 people – who paid up to $50 for tickets to the event – including J.P. Morgan, the Pierponts, the Whitneys and General William Tecumseh Sherman.
Boxing
Boxing has a long history at Madison Square Garden. The original GardenMadison Square Garden (1879)
Madison Square Garden was an arena in New York City located at East 26th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan. The first venue to use that name, it had a seating capacity of 10,000 spectators...
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 WillardJess WillardJess Willard was a world heavyweight boxing champion. He won the heavyweight title from Jack Johnson in April 1915 and lost it to Jack Dempsey in July 1919....
and challenger Frank MoranFrank MoranCharles Francis "Frank" Moran was an American boxer and film actor who fought twice for the Heavyweight Championship of the World, and appeared in over 135 movies in a 25 year film career.-Sports career:...
on March 25, 1916, which brought in $152,000, the largest Garden take to that date. - Jack DempseyJack DempseyWilliam Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...
's knockout of Bill BrennanBill BrennanBill Brennan was an American boxer who fought and lost to World Heavy Weight Champion Jack Dempsey twice...
in the 12th round on December 14, 1920. - 32 world championship fights between 1925 through 1945
Football
In 1902 and 1903, the Gardens hosted the World Series of FootballWorld Series of Football (1902)
The World Series of Football was a series of football games played indoors at New York's Madison Square Garden in 1902 and 1903. It originally comprised five teams, four from New York state and one from New Jersey...
, which is best remembered for showcasing the very first indoor professional football games. The event involved five teams, four from New York and one from New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. The 1902 contest was won by the Syracuse Athletic Club, while the Franklin Athletic Club
Franklin Athletic Club
The Franklin Athletic Club was an early professional football team based in Franklin, Pennsylvania. It was considered the top team in professional football in 1903, by becoming the becoming the US Football Champions and winning the 1903 World Series of Football, held after the 1903 season, at New...
claimed the 1903 title.
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, and the New York Life Insurance CompanyNew York Life Insurance Company
The New York Life Insurance Company is one of the largest mutual life-insurance companies in the United States, and one of the largest life insurers in the world, with about $287 billion in total assets under management, and more than $15 billion in surplus and AVR...
, 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
Cass Gilbert
- Historical impact :Gilbert is considered a skyscraper pioneer; when designing the Woolworth Building he moved into unproven ground — though he certainly was aware of the ground-breaking work done by Chicago architects on skyscrapers and once discussed merging firms with the legendary Daniel...
-designed New York Life Building
New York Life Building
The New York Life Insurance Building, New York, located at 51 Madison Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, across from Madison Square Park, is the headquarters of the New York Life Insurance Company.- History :...
. Construction on the new building began in 1926, and was completed in 1928.
In popular culture
- The 1924 Anita StewartAnita StewartAnita Stewart was an American actress and film producer of the early silent film era.-Early life and career:...
film Great White Way featured the second Garden. - Madison Square Garden, a 1932 film which starred Jack OakieJack OakieJack Oakie was an American actor, starring mostly in films, but also working on stage, radio and television.-Early life:...
, Zasu PittsZaSu PittsZaSu Pitts was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas and comedies, transitioning to comedy sound films.-Early life:ZaSu Pitts was born in Parsons, Kansas to Rulandus and Nellie Pitts; she was the third of four children...
and William BoydWilliam Boyd (actor)William Lawrence Boyd was an American film actor best known for portraying Hopalong Cassidy.-Biography:...
, who would later find fame as "Hopalong Cassidy".
See also
- Madison SquareMadison SquareMadison Square is formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for James Madison, fourth President of the United States and the principal author of the United States Constitution.The focus of the square is...
- Madison Square Garden (1879)Madison Square Garden (1879)Madison Square Garden was an arena in New York City located at East 26th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan. The first venue to use that name, it had a seating capacity of 10,000 spectators...
- Madison Square Garden (1925)Madison Square Garden (1925)Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the third of that name. It was built in 1925 and closed in 1968, and was located on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Manhattan on the site of the city's trolley car barns. It was the first Garden that was not located near...
- Madison Square GardenMadison Square GardenMadison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
- Madison Square Garden BowlMadison Square Garden BowlMadison Square Garden Bowl was the name of an outdoor arena in the New York City borough of Queens. Built in 1932, the arena hosted circuses and boxing matches. Its seating capacity was 72,000 spectators. It was eventually destroyed after years of disuse....