Madison Square Garden (1890)

Madison Square Garden (1891–1926)

Company type	Indoor arena
Industry	Entertainment, Sports
Founded	1891
Defunct	1925
Fate	Demolished; replaced by New York Life Building
Headquarters	New York City, Manhattan , United States
Products	Boxing, concerts, operas, comedy shows, circuses, conventions, wrestling, football, cycling events

Madison Square Garden (1891–1926) served as an indoor arena in New York City, marking the second venue to bear this name and the final one situated at 26th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan. Opening its doors in 1891 with an investment of approximately $500,000, it succeeded the original Madison Square Garden. The venue was renowned for hosting boxing contests, orchestral concerts, light operas, romantic comedies, the yearly French Ball, performances by both the Barnum and Ringling circuses, as well as the 1924 Democratic National Convention, which ultimately nominated John W. Davis after an exhaustive 103 ballots. The facility ceased operations in 1925 and was succeeded by the third Madison Square Garden located at Eighth Avenue and 50th Street—the first incarnation away from Madison Square.

History

The design of Madison Square Garden II was crafted by architect Stanford White, who also maintained a personal apartment within the building. In 1906, White was fatally shot in the rooftop restaurant of the Garden by millionaire Harry Kendall Thaw, motivated by White’s affair with Thaw’s wife, actress Evelyn Nesbit. This scandal attracted widespread media coverage and elevated Thaw’s trial to one of the early "Trials of the Century."

This structure replaced a previous outdated open-air facility that had served as a railroad passenger depot. The project was undertaken by a consortium including prominent figures such as J. P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, P. T. Barnum, Darius Mills, James Stillman, and W. W. Astor. White’s architectural approach combined Beaux-Arts style with Moorish elements, highlighted by a minaret-like tower inspired by Seville’s Giralda bell tower—then ranking as the city’s second tallest edifice—dominating the skyline above Madison Square Park. The arena's footprint measured 200 by 485 feet; its main hall spanned 200 by 350 feet, making it the largest globally at the time, with permanent seating for 8,000 and additional capacity for thousands more. Amenities included a theatre seating 1,200 guests, a concert hall accommodating 1,500 attendees, New York City’s largest restaurant, and a rooftop garden cabaret. The ultimate expenditure reached $3 million.

Crowning the tower was Diana, an 18-foot gilded copper statue crafted by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens that inspired Madison Square Park’s nickname "Diana's little wooded park." Possibly modeled on artist’s muse Julia Baird, this original statue weighed approximately 1,800 pounds and rotated with the wind; however, it was eventually removed due to its excessive size. The original sculpture was transported to Chicago’s World's Columbian Exposition but suffered partial destruction in a subsequent fire. In 1893, a hollow gilded copper replica measuring 13 feet replaced it; this version is currently housed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art with a duplicate displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Saint-Gaudens also produced smaller bronze versions exhibited at later Madison Square Gardens.

The inaugural event drew over 17,000 spectators paying up to $50 per ticket, including prominent personalities such as J.P. Morgan, members of the Pierpont and Whitney families, and General William Tecumseh Sherman.

Sports

During 1902 and 1903, Madison Square Garden hosted the World Series of Football, notable for featuring some of the earliest professional indoor football matches. The 1902 series comprised five teams from New York and New Jersey, with the Syracuse Athletic Club emerging victorious. The following year expanded participation to include teams from western Pennsylvania alongside New York and New Jersey squads; ultimately, the Franklin Athletic Club secured the championship.

On January 8, 1909, Matthew Maloney established a new indoor marathon record at the Garden with a time of 2:54:45.4 before an audience of 5,000.

The Millrose Games were inaugurated at this venue in 1914. Additionally, The Westminster Kennel Club held its annual dog show here—one of America’s longest-standing sporting traditions.

Boxing maintained a significant presence at Madison Square Garden. Matches were staged even prior to legal sanctioning by presenting them as "exhibitions." Noteworthy fights included heavyweight champion Jess Willard facing challenger Frank Moran in 1916—a bout that generated $152,000 in revenue, setting a record for Garden earnings—and Jack Dempsey’s decisive knockout over Bill Brennan in 1920.

Professional wrestling flourished within this arena as well. The World Heavyweight Championship originated following George Hackenschmidt’s triumph over Tom Jenkins in 1905. Several pivotal title changes occurred here: Joe Stecher reclaimed the championship in 1920 in what is recognized as the earliest American professional wrestling match captured on film; subsequent years saw victories for Ed "Strangler" Lewis and later losses to Stanislaus Zbyszko.

From its opening until demolition in 1925, Madison Square Garden also hosted the annual Six Days of New York, a distinguished six-day track cycling competition.

Demolition

Although Madison Square Garden II held considerable cultural importance during the early 1900s in New York, it failed to achieve financial viability. The mortgage holder, the New York Life Insurance Company, decided to replace the structure with a new corporate headquarters. This led to the construction of the iconic New York Life Building, designed by Cass Gilbert. Building commenced in 1926 and reached completion by 1928.

In popular culture

• The second Garden was depicted in the 1924 film The Great White Way, featuring Anita Stewart.
• The 1932 motion picture Madison Square Garden included performances by Jack Oakie, Zasu Pitts, and William Boyd, who later gained fame as "Hopalong Cassidy."
• Both the 1975 novel and its 1981 film adaptation of Ragtime showcase the second Garden, incorporating scenes that recreate the rooftop garden shootout and the tower statue.

See also

• Madison Square
• Madison Square Garden (1879)
• Madison Square Garden (1925)
• Madison Square Garden (1968)
• Madison Square Garden Bowl

External links

• Arena details