Columbia Park or Columbia Avenue Grounds was a baseball park in Philadelphia. It was built in 1901 as the first home of the Philadelphia Athletics, who played there for eight seasons, including two games of the 1905 World Series.Columbia Park fell into disuse after the Athletics' move in 1909 to the larger Shibe Park, and was demolished in the 1910s.Home of the Philadelphia AthleticsColumbia Park was built in 1901 by the Philadelphia Athletics when the team was established, in the creation of the American League. The site was a vacant lot on which manager and part-owner Connie Mack obtained a ten-year lease. It occupied the block bordered by 29th Street, Oxford Street, 30th Street, and Columbia Avenue (since renamed Cecil B. Moore Avenue, in honor of the civil rights leader). The park was built by contractor James B. Foster, at a cost of $35,000.The stadium was very small, and originally had a seating capacity of only 9,500. This was eventually increased to 13,600 by the addition of bleacher seating in the outfield. During some sold out games, unofficial additional seating could be found on top of the adjoining homes. There was only one dressing room, for the home team; visiting teams had to change at their hotels. Although the ballpark was in Philadelphia's Brewerytown section, beer sales were prohibited.
