Patrick Gordon

Urban Politics

Photo Essay

Written by an avid baseball fan and a lifelong resident of Philadelphia, this essay will document the history of Shibe Park and will explore the stadium's industrial affects on the areas surrounding Twenty-first and Lehigh. This essay will document the growth of the areas surrounding Twenty-first and Lehigh and will take a comprehensive look at the de-industrialization of the areas surrounding Shibe Park. This essay will also explore the positive and negative affects Shibe Park had in regard to neighborhood growth, business, population, and civic pride within Northern Philadelphia. Documentation of the changes within Northern Philadelphia will be given along with an in-depth look at what has become of Shibe Park and the areas surrounding Twenty-first and Lehigh.

For more then six decades, Twenty-first and Lehigh was one of the most revered addresses within Philadelphia. Residents of Philadelphia stumbled over the locations of other prominent historical landmarks such as Independence Hall and the Art Museum but never failed to remember Twenty-first and Lehigh, the intersection where Shibe Park stood. The address was engraved in the minds and hearts of practically every Philadelphian. Shibe Park acted as the center of the Philadelphia sports world.

In its existence, Shibe Park played host to eight World Series, two All Star games, three Negro World Series, and countless other sporting events. The Philadelphia Athletics called Shibe Park home for 46 seasons, while the Philadelphia Phillies did likewise for nearly 33 years. Shibe Park housed the Philadelphia Eagles from 1940 to 1957, hosted countless High School football games, and was visited by three American presidents.

The legendary Connie Mack managed Shibe Park’s first tenants, the Philadelphia Athletics. Mack managed the Athletics for fifty seasons, managing Hall of Famers such as Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, Mickey Cochrane, and Lefty Grove. Shibe Park was the home of the Athletics notorious $100,000 infield of Stuffy McInnis, Eddie Collins, Jack Barry, and Frank “Home Run” Baker. Shibe Park was also the home of one of the greatest baseball squads of all time, the 1929 Philadelphia Athletics.

In total nearly 47 million baseball fans watched the Athletics and Phillies play during Shibe Park’s 62 years in existence. Indubitably, Shibe Park was more then a baseball stadium, it was a Philadelphia landmark, a landmark that is still very much in the hearts of baseball fans throughout Philadelphia today.

In the nineteenth century, blacks mostly populated the areas surrounding Tenth and Columbia. As years passed, blacks continued to move along Columbia Avenue in a northwestern direction. Eventually, the blacks that moved down Ridge Road intersected those living near Columbia, forming a lynchpin conjoining the two poverty-stricken areas. When the Depression came about in the twenties, blacks had become the majority living along North Broad Street. As the black population continued to climb in Northern Philadelphia, the wealthy white citizens fought to make sure the blacks remained in the poor neighborhoods of the area.

Between 1920 and 1970, the population of Philadelphia changed little, yet the population of blacks grew from 134,000 to 650,000, an increase of 27 percent. Despite the white attempts to keep the blacks from "infecting" their neighborhoods, blacks continued to move north of Lehigh. As the national and local economies began to boom, Philadelphia began to produce a newly rejuvenated center-city residential district. Wealthy whites called the center-city area home while working in corporate headquarters and large businesses. Meanwhile, blacks continued to live in poverty and quickly surrounded the center-city area, living with crime, drugs, and poor living conditions.

In contrast, the areas surrounding North Penn were much newer areas then those located below Lehigh, these newer areas were termed “streetcar suburbs.” The residents of the “streetcar suburbs” depended on public transportation to get from home to work. Soon enough, the residents of the “streetcar suburbs” found other jobs and eventually fled the areas south of Lehigh. As fast as the whites left, blacks moved in.

When compared to the areas of North Penn, the area of Upper North Philadelphia above Lehigh was newer by twenty to thirty years. Upper North Philadelphia was more harmonized and was seemingly made for the industries that were short distances away. The area of Upper North Philadelphia was termed as a “streetcar industrial” or “walking industrial” area. Many of the blocks surrounding Shibe Park were termed “walking industrial” areas.

Originally, Shibe Park helped solidify economic stability within the surrounding areas of Northern Philadelphia. The ballpark did this by means of stadium employment and contributions to the quality of local housing stock. Along with Shibe Park came parking lots, residential rooming, rooftop seats, diners, and bars, all of which stimulated local residents to look after their property.

Once the Athletics left for Kansas City in 1954, the area surrounding Shibe Park took a huge economic blow. Some storeowners were elated about the departure of the Athletics. A pet shop owner was relieved that he could now park near his business while a local realtor was thrilled that his customers could now easily find parking. Unfortunately, the majority of storeowners were negatively affected by the departure of the Athletics.

Local eateries and bars such as the Athletics Lunch and the Deep Right Field Café were now placed in economic straits. The significant drop in customers severely hurt the neighbors who ran the small local businesses and parking lots. Although the Phillies picked up some of the Athletics front office personnel, fifty-three full-time workers were ultimately fired. Three hundred and fifteen part time workers had their salaries cut in half and most of the workers lived in the areas surrounding Lehigh Avenue.

As the fifties and sixties wore on, so did Shibe Park. The stadium had seen its heyday and was now becoming archaic. Nevertheless, the Phillies carried on and functioned as an “aging and inefficient enterprise.” Although Shibe Park was running on it last legs, it remained in business and was a positive element within Northern Philadelphia. Unfortunately, the economic troubles Philadelphia faced in the 1960s helped contribute to the deterioration of the neighborhoods surrounding Twenty-first and Lehigh.

In the 1950s, blacks were the majority in Upper North Philadelphia. As the black population grew, the areas surrounding Twenty-first and Lehigh fell to drugs, crime, and poverty. Eventually, racial tensions erupted in Philadelphia, culminating with riots in 1964. The riots marked a time in which race relations within Philadelphia were of extreme concern. Wishing to escape the blacks and the problems facing the areas surrounding Twenty-first and Lehigh, white businesses bolted from Northern Philadelphia. Soon thereafter, the Phillies would do the same.

Ironically, Philadelphia was not the only baseball town to be facing economic and neighborhood concerns. In a 1972 federal study, the director of Housing and Urban Affairs noted seven other cities were being faced with similar problems. Six of the seven cities had professional baseball teams; these cities represented eleven of the original sixteen major league teams along with five-abandoned ballparks.

Between 1965 and 1972, Acme supermarkets began to close down in North Philadelphia. The first Acme to close was located at Twenty-fifth and Lehigh. A&P’s and Penn Fruits attempted to duplicate the Acmes. Countless factories, theaters, offices, bakeries, and doctors left North Philadelphia, as did numerous chain stores. Banking also collapsed within Northern Philadelphia between 1965 and 1972.

Located at Twenty-second and Lehigh, First Pennsylvania Bank was the bank of choice for local residents. The bank functioned normally except it did not offer savings or checking accounts, safe deposits, or loan facilities. Instead, the bank handled money orders, mass transit passes, and food stamps. The bank also dealt with welfare checks and utility payments.

The Roman Catholic Church also felt the impact of the turbulent fifties and sixties. Within a fifteen-year span, Saint Columba’s congregation dropped from 3,500 families to a porous 350. The church ultimately fell victim to the muggers and vandals that roamed the areas of Twenty-first and Lehigh. Saint Columba’s school population dropped as well, falling from 1,800 students to nearly 460, 90 percent of which were black. Eventually, Saint Columba’s school also fell victim to the neighborhood. The building was glistened with broken glass and debris and a lone German Shepard patrolled the schoolyard.

At Twenty-second and Clearfield, Saint Mary of the Eternal faced the same problems. The church quickly closed after 8 A.M. mass and eventually decided to do away with evening mass. “People are afraid to go out,” said a head clergyman. Another observer of the Northern Philadelphia churches wrote, “Bewildered by what seemed a cruel blow, the clergymen left behind by their white parishioners did nothing but watch, saddened and angered, as it all began to deteriorate. Income from collections dropped to almost nothing. Mass attendance dwindled … church property was not maintained.”

As all the problems facing Northern Philadelphia continued to spiral, the city as a whole began to lose population. The constant population that kept Philadelphia vibrant throughout the century fell nearly 13 percent between 1970 and 1980. North Philadelphia faced a decline of 29 percent. Livable housing seemed to be nonexistent, as houses were either unkempt or demolished. Residents who could afford to buy a home found the means of getting a mortgage nearly impossible. The local banks that once served the residents of Northern Philadelphia refused to lend money, afraid of the areas surrounding Lehigh. Those who stayed within Northern Philadelphia could hardly afford to pay rent and utilities; thus, upkeep was not a viable option for many.

When the Philadelphia Phillies left Shibe Park in 1970 the neighborhood took another huge blow. Along with the countless abandoned factories, stores, businesses, and lots that peppered the streets of Northern Philadelphia, an empty ballpark remained standing. Gangs and drugs infiltrated the area in the early 1970s and eventually the grounds on which Shibe Park stood were deemed uninhabitable. Vandals were burglarizing Saint Columba’s almost daily and eventually a priest was stabbed to death. Racial tensions remained high and eventually led to the brief closure of Dobbins High School at Twenty-second and Lehigh. Concerning property value, a real estate analyst wrote that in a five-year period from 1966 to 1971, one multistory warehouse located near Shibe Park declined in value from $1.3 million to $400,000.

When the Philadelphia Phillies left Shibe Park, Jerry Wolman was the owner of the stadium. Wolman bought Shibe Park along with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1964. Unfortunately, when the Phillies left and Shibe Park became vacant, Wolman was bankrupt while living in a Maryland suburb. Ultimately, the government and real estate and development organizations had to take charge of the abandoned eyesore. The local civic association ultimately blamed the “spiritual and physical” decline of Northern Philadelphia on the “rise and fall” of Shibe Park. Ironically, the fate of Shibe Park closely resembled the fall of Northern Philadelphia.

In total, Philadelphia lost nearly a hundred thousand jobs in the 1970s. During this same period, Philadelphia fell to seventh in the United States in reference to the number of corporate headquarters based within the city. These figures ultimately showed the disadvantages Philadelphia faced when compared to the newer Sunbelt cities of the South and West. Certainly the businesses that fled when Shibe Park closed hurt Philadelphia's figures.

In the years after the Phillies vacated Shibe Park, fans, employees, neighbors, workers, and ball players considered the grounds of Twenty-first and Lehigh to be sacred. An editorial in the Philadelphia Bulletin read: “Any structure that has born the hopes, the despair, and the triumph of a city for 61 years is more than a ballpark, more even than an institution or a tradition. It is, in some part, a fragment of the city’s collective soul, just a house that one family lives in for 61 years becomes a part of its life force.” Unfortunately, the final years of Shibe Park’s existence were utterly irreverent towards a dying city landmark.

"Ain't it a damn shame," claimed a patron of the Deep Right Field Cafe when asked about the decline of Shibe Park. "Life is hard enough in North Philadelphia, let alone having a dump for your neighbor." In 1971 the vacant Shibe Park fell victim to a major fire that destroyed the majority of the once proud structure. Eventually in 1976, wrecking crews demolished what remained standing of Shibe Park while the mid-summer classic was being played at the Phillies new home, Veterans Stadium. As years wore on the grounds where Shibe Park once stood turned into an unofficial trash dump. The once proud area that housed the Athletics and Phillies now housed rats, dirty mattresses, prostitutes, and drug dealers.

Citizens of the area began blasting the Philadelphia government about their lack of interest in the empty lot at Twenty-first and Lehigh. Thankfully for the local residents, the Philadelphia Daily News published countless articles that utterly bashed the city government for not cleaning up the area. Feeling heat from the press and local residents, the Philadelphia government eventually focused on cleaning the area where Shibe Park once stood. Unfortunately, a 1986 city worker strike hindered trash collection for a period of time and inevitably, the lot at Twenty-first and Lehigh became a local dumping ground.

As years passed, the residents of Northern Philadelphia were publicly pushing Wolman to make a public claim of the land and to do something with it. Wolman refuted responsibility, claiming financial invalidism. The land at Twenty-first and Lehigh had countless liens against it and thus, was unattractive to most speculators. Luckily for the residents of Northern Philadelphia, a growing church inquired about the empty lot at Twenty-first and Lehigh.

In mid 1981, the Deliverance Evangelistic Church of 4700 N. Broad purchased the land where Shibe Park once stood. Along with the empty lot at Twenty-first and Lehigh, the Church also purchased land at Twentieth and Twenty-first and Lehigh and Somerset. Within a few years, the Church had built a mini strip mall at the intersection of Twentieth and Lehigh. The stores in the strip mall were geared towards the elderly, church groups, recreation, and education groups. By the mid 1980s, the strip mall had become quite popular with local residents and seemed to mesh nicely with Bobo’s Lounge. Bobo's occupied the area where the Deep Right Field Cafe once stood.

A few years later, in 1990, the Deliverance Evangelistic Church broke ground for its new Temple of Faith and in 1992 began serving the community of Northern Philadelphia. To date, the Deliverance Evangelistic Church has established over sixty departments for education and leadership training. Currently, the Church seats 5,100.

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