About Hilltop Park
Hilltop Park was the original home of the New York Highlanders — the team that would eventually become the Yankees — from 1903 to 1912. Perched in Washington Heights at 168th Street and Broadway, the wooden grandstand was named for its dramatically elevated position above the surrounding neighborhood, with sweeping views that made it unlike any other ballpark in the American League.
The Highlanders were a scrappy franchise trying to establish themselves in a city already dominated by the Giants. Jack Chesbro's legendary 1904 season — 41 wins, a modern-era record that still stands — unfolded on this hilltop, and the pennant race that year came down to the final day before a wild pitch by Chesbro cost the team the title.
After the 1912 season the Highlanders, recently renamed the Yankees, abandoned the aging wooden park and became tenants at the Giants' Polo Grounds. No photographs of the park survive in abundance and no physical trace remains — the site was eventually developed into the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center complex, making Hilltop Park one of the most thoroughly erased chapters in baseball history.
Fun facts
- Named for its high elevation above Broadway — players and fans alike climbed to reach it.
- Jack Chesbro's 41 wins in 1904 remain the most by any pitcher in the modern era.
- After the Highlanders left, the site became part of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.
- The team was renamed the Yankees in 1913, just one year after leaving Hilltop Park.
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