Madison Square Garden (1925)

{{Short description|Former arena in Manhattan, New York}}
{{About|the former New York arena||Madison Square Garden (disambiguation)}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2012}}
{{Infobox venue
| stadium_name        = Madison Square Garden III
| nickname            = 
| image               = Madison Square Garden 1941 Postcard.jpg
| image_size          = 275px
| caption             = 1941 postcard depicting the building
| fullname            = Madison Square Garden
| location            = [[Manhattan]], [[New York City|New York]]
| coordinates         = 
{{Coord|40.7624|-73.9877|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| broke_ground        = {{start date and age|January 9, 1925|p=yes}}
| built               =
| opened              = {{start date and age|December 15, 1925|p=yes}}
| closed              = {{end date and age|February 13, 1968|p=yes}}
| demolished          = 1968&ndash;1969
| owner               = [[Tex Rickard]]
| operator            = [[Tex Rickard]]
| surface             = 
| construction_cost   =  
| architect           = [[Thomas W. Lamb]]
| former_names        = 
| tenants             = [[New York Americans|New York/Brooklyn Americans]] ([[National Hockey League|NHL]]) (1925&ndash;1942)<br>[[New York Rangers]] (NHL) (1926–1968)<br>[[St. John's Red Storm|St. John's Redmen]] ([[NCAA]]) (1930s&ndash;1968)<br>[[National Invitation Tournament]] (1938–1967)<br>[[New York Knicks]] ([[Basketball Association of America|BAA]]/[[National Basketball Association|NBA]]) (1946–1968)
| seating_capacity   = Basketball: 18,496<br>Ice hockey: 15,925
}}

'''Madison Square Garden''' ('''MSG III''') was an [[indoor arena]] in [[New York City]], the third bearing that name. Built in 1925 and closed in 1968, it was located on the west side of [[Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)|Eighth Avenue]] between [[49th Street (Manhattan)|49th]] and [[50th Street (Manhattan)|50th]] streets in [[Manhattan]], on the site of the city's trolley-car barns.<ref name=ballp /> It was the first Garden that was not located near [[Madison Square]]. MSG III was the home of the [[New York Rangers]] of the [[National Hockey League]] and the [[New York Knicks]] of the [[National Basketball Association]], and also hosted numerous [[boxing]] matches, the [[Millrose Games]], the [[National Invitation Tournament]], concerts, and other events. In 1968 it was demolished and its role and name passed to the [[Madison Square Garden|fourth Madison Square Garden]], which stands at the site of the original [[Pennsylvania Station (New York City)|Penn Station]]. [[One Worldwide Plaza]] was built on the arena's former 50th Street location.
{{TOC limit|3}}

==History==
Groundbreaking on the third Madison Square Garden took place on January 9, 1925.<ref name=ballp>[http://hockey.ballparks.com/NHL/NewYorkRangers/3rdoldindex.htm "Madison Square Garden III"] on Ballparks.com</ref> Designed by
the theater architect [[Thomas W. Lamb]], it was built at the cost of $4.75 million in 349 days by boxing promoter [[Tex Rickard]], who assembled backers he called his "600 millionaires" to fund the project.<ref name=ballp />  The new arena was dubbed "The House That Tex Built."<ref>Schumach, Murray (February 14, 1968).[https://www.nytimes.com/1968/02/14/archives/next-and-last-attraction-at-old-madison-square-garden-to-be.html Next and Last Attraction at Old Madison Square Garden to Be Wreckers' Ball], ''The New York Times''</ref>  In contrast to the ornate towers of [[Stanford White]]'s  [[Madison Square Garden (1890)|second Garden]], the exterior of MSG III was a simple box. Its most distinctive feature was the ornate [[Marquee (sign)|marquee]] above the main entrance, with seemingly endless abbreviations (Tomw., V/S, Rgrs, Tonite, Thru, etc.) Even the name of the arena was abbreviated, to "Madison Sq. Garden".

The arena, which opened on December 15, 1925,<ref name=Gazette>{{cite news |title=Canadiens victors over New York in a colorful battle |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Fr8DH2VBP9sC&dat=19251216&printsec=frontpage |work=[[Montreal Gazette|The Gazette]] |date=December 16, 1925 |accessdate=August 11, 2021 |location=[[Montreal]] |page=18}}</ref> was {{convert|200|ft|m}} by {{convert|375|ft|m}}, with seating on three levels, and a maximum [[seating capacity|capacity]] of 18,496 spectators for boxing.<ref name=ballp /> It had poor sight lines, especially for hockey, and fans sitting virtually anywhere behind the first row of the side balcony could count on having some portion of the ice obstructed. The poor ventilation and allowed smoking often caused haze in the upper portions of the Garden.

Madison Square Garden III was managed by Rickard, [[John S. Hammond]], William F. Carey, General [[John Reed Kilpatrick]], [[Ned Irish]] and [[Irving Mitchell Felt]].<ref name=ballp /> It was eventually replaced by the fourth [[Madison Square Garden]].

==Events==

===Sports===
[[File:Cowboy Evans World Series Rodeo CONTESTANT.jpg|thumb|right|[[Steer wrestling|Bulldogging]] champion [[Cowboy Morgan Evans]] competition chit at Madison Square Garden's 1928 World Series Rodeo]]

====Boxing====
[[Boxing]] was Madison Square Garden III's principal claim to fame. The first bout took place on December 8, 1925, a week before its official opening. On January 17, 1941, 23,190 people witnessed [[Fritzie Zivic]]'s successful welterweight title defense against [[Henry Armstrong]], still the largest crowd at any of the Gardens.<ref>Baker, Mark A. (2019). ''Between the Ropes at Madison Square Garden, The History of an Iconic Boxing Ring, 1925-2007''. {{ISBN|978-1-4766-7183-3}}.</ref>

====Hockey====
The [[New York Rangers]], owned by the Garden's owner [[Tex Rickard]], got their name from a play on words involving his name: ''Tex's Rangers''. However, the Rangers were not the first NHL team to play at the Garden; the [[New York Americans]] had begun play in 1925 &ndash; and officially opened the Garden in front of 17,000 by losing to the [[Montreal Canadiens]], 3-1<ref name=ballp/> &ndash; [[Shorty Green]] of the Americans was the first player to score a goal in the arena.<ref name=Gazette/> The Americans were so tremendously successful that Rickard wanted his own team. The Rangers were founded in 1926 and played their first game in the Garden on November 16, 1926.<ref name=ballp/> Both teams played at the Garden until the Americans suspended operations in 1942 due to [[World War II]]. In the meantime, the Rangers had usurped the Americans with their own success, winning three [[Stanley Cup]]s between 1928 and 1940. The refusal of the Garden's management to allow the postwar resurrection of the Americans team was one popular theory underlying the [[Curse of 1940]], which supposedly prevented the Rangers from winning another Stanley Cup until 1994. Another alleged cause of "The Curse" stemmed from manager Kilpatrick burning the Garden's mortgage papers in the bowl of the Stanley Cup, made possible by receipts from the 1940 Cup run. Hockey purists believed that the trophy had been "defiled", leading to the Rangers' woes.

The [[New York Rovers]], a farm team of the Rangers, played in the Garden on Sunday afternoons, while the Rangers played on Wednesday and Sunday nights.<ref name=ballp/> [[Tommy Lockhart]] managed the Rovers games and introduced on-ice promotions such as racing [[model aircraft]] and [[bicycle]]s around the arena, [[figure skating]] acts [[Ice Follies|Shipstads & Johnson Ice Follies]] and [[Sonja Henie]], and a skating [[grizzly bear]].<ref name="Miller">{{cite web|url=http://www.chuckthewriter.com/ehl.pdf|title=FROM ATLANTIC CITY TO TORONTO: The Boardwalk Trophy and the Eastern Hockey League|last=Miller|first=Chuck|website=Hockey Ink!|access-date=2018-04-16}}</ref> The fourth floor of the Garden had a second sheet of ice, used for public skating, recreational hockey, and as the Rangers' practice facility.

====Basketball====
The first professional basketball game was played in the 50th Street Garden on December 6, 1925, nine days before the arena officially opened. It pitted the [[Original Celtics]] against the [[Washington Palace Five]]. The Celtics won 35–31.<ref name=ballp /> The [[New York Knicks]] debuted there in 1946, although if there was an important college game, they played in the [[69th Regiment Armory]].<ref name=ballp /> Due to other event bookings in the arena, all their home games during the [[1951 NBA Finals|1951]], [[1952 NBA Finals|1952]] and [[1953 NBA Finals|1953]] [[NBA Finals]] were played at the Armory; thus MSG III never hosted an NBA Finals game. MSG III hosted the [[NBA All-Star Game]] in 1954, 1955 and 1968.

In 1931, a highly successful college basketball triple header raised money for Mayor [[Jimmy Walker]]'s Unemployment Relief Fund.  In 1934, [[Ned Irish]] began promoting a successful series of college basketball double headers at the Garden featuring a mix of local and national teams.  MSG III began hosting the [[National Invitation Tournament]] annually in 1938, and hosted seven [[NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament|NCAA men's basketball championship]] finals between 1943 and 1950. On February 28, 1940, Madison Square Garden hosted the first televised basketball games in a Fordham-Pitt and [[1939–40 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team|Georgetown]]-NYU doubleheader. A [[CCNY point shaving scandal|point shaving scandal]] involving games played at the Garden led the NCAA to reduce its use of the Garden, and caused some schools, including 1950 NCAA and NIT Champion [[1949–50 CCNY Beavers men's basketball team|City College of New York]] (CCNY), to be banned from playing there.<ref>''Nat Holman: The Man, His Legacy and CCNY''.[http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/library/exhibitions/holman/basketball_scandal.html "The 1951 Basketball Scandal"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205215227/http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/library/exhibitions/holman/basketball_scandal.html |date=December 5, 2007 }} - The City College Library - [[City College of New York]].</ref>

====Professional wrestling====
[[Capitol Wrestling Corporation]]—along with its successor, the [[World Wide Wrestling Federation]]—promoted professional wrestling at the Garden during its last two decades.  [[Toots Mondt]] and [[Jess McMahon]] owned CWC, which initially promoted tag team wrestling.  Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Mondt and McMahon were successful at promoting ethnic heroes of [[Stateside Puerto Ricans|Puerto Rican]] or [[Italian Americans|Italian descent]].

Two historic wrestling events took place at MSG III.  On May 17, 1963, [[Bruno Sammartino]] defeated [["Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers]], via submission, in 48 seconds, to become the second ever [[WWWF World Heavyweight Champion]].  On November 19, 1957, the [[Dr. Jerry Graham]] & [[Dick the Bruiser]] vs. [[Edouard Carpentier]] & [[Argentina Rocca]] main event led to a race riot involving Italian and Puerto Rican fans of Carpentier and Rocca.  After the riot, New York City nearly banned [[professional wrestling]] and children under the age of 14 were prohibited from attending.<ref name=Meltzer>{{cite web |url=http://www.f4wonline.com/component/content/article/36241-feb-3-1997-wrestling-observer-newsletter-jerry-graham-passes-away-future-of-nhb-in-new-york-in-serious-jeopardy-dave-brown-quits-nwo-gimmick-exposed-more |title=Wrestling Observer Newsletter, February 3, 1997 |publisher=Wrestling Observer Newsletter |access-date=April 10, 2014}}</ref>

====Cycling====
From 1925 until 1961, Madison Square Garden hosted the [[Six Days of New York]], an annual [[six-day racing]] event of [[track cycling]]. Upon its final running, it was the longest-running series in the world with 73 editions.

===Other entertainment===

====Circus====
The [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus]] debuted at the second Garden in 1919, and the third Garden continued to host numerous performances. The circus was so important to the Garden that for the [[1928 Stanley Cup Finals]], the Rangers were forced to play all their games on the road, but they still won the series. The circus performed as often as three times daily throughout the life of the third Garden, repeatedly knocking the Rangers out of the Garden at playoff time.<ref>Even at the fourth Garden, games would sometimes have to begin as late as 9:00 p.m. to accommodate the circus.</ref>

The circus acrobatics included acts in the rings, on the high wire, and trapeze. One dramatic act which was only performed in the Garden, and never taken on the road with the traveling circus, involved Blinc Candlin, a [[Hudson, New York]] fireman, who rode his antique 1880s high-wheel bicycle on the high wire every season for over two decades beginning in the 1910s and running well through the 1930s.

====Dog show====
The Garden continued to host [[Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show|The Westminster Kennel Club's]] annual dog show. This championship is the second longest continuously running U.S. sporting event (behind only the [[Kentucky Derby]]).

===Other events===
[[File:1937 Anti-Nazi Rally at Madison Square Garden.jpg|thumb|300px|Anti-Nazi rally in MSG III (March 15, 1937)]]
* The very first event held at the third Garden was a [[bicycle racing|bicycle race]] held from November 24–29, 1925, several weeks before the official opening of the arena.
* Although MSG III never hosted a national political convention ([[#Cultural references|see below]]), in 1932 [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] continued a tradition begun in 1892 by [[Grover Cleveland]], when 22,000 people rallied to support him in his bid for the [[U.S. presidency]].<ref name=ballp /> [[Herbert Hoover]] also delivered his final campaign speech for the 1932 election at the Garden. In 1936, Roosevelt delivered his [[1936 Madison Square Garden speech|last campaign speech]] there before the election.<ref name=":0">Katznelson, Ira (2013). ''Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of our Time''. New York, NY: Liveright Publishing Corporation. {{ISBN|978-0-87140-450-3}}. {{OCLC|783163618}}.</ref> 
* On March 15, 1937, a massive "Boycott [[Nazi Germany]]" rally was held in the Garden, sponsored by the [[American Jewish Congress]] and the [[Jewish Labor Committee]].  [[John L. Lewis]] of the [[Congress of Industrial Organizations]] and [[Mayor of New York City|New York City mayor]] [[Fiorello La Guardia|Fiorello LaGuardia]] were among the speakers.<ref>[http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/haventohome/haven-home.html#obj13 "From Haven to Home"] [[Library of Congress]] exhibit.</ref>
* [[Ice skating|Ice skater]] and film star [[Sonia Henie]] brought her Hollywood Ice Review to the Garden in 1938, drawing more than 15,000 fans.<ref name=ballp />
* On February 20, 1939, a pro-Nazi organization called [[German American Bund]] held [[1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden|a rally]] of 20,000 at the third Garden. By December 1941, the federal government had outlawed the group.
* During the height of its popularity during the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]], the [[Communist Party USA]] held mass rallies which filled the stadium.<ref name=":0" />
* In 1940, 13,000 people attended the [[rodeo]], featuring [[Gene Autry]].<ref name=ballp />
* On March 9, 1942, a mass memorial service for the [[Holocaust victims|2,000,000 Jews]] known to have been murdered by the [[Nazism|Nazis]] to that time in Axis-occupied Europe, was held in the venue. The service was called ''[[We Will Never Die]]''. 40,000 people attended the two performances that day.<ref>''The New York Times'', March 10, 1943.</ref>
* In 1957, [[Evangelicalism|evangelist]] [[Billy Graham]] held a New York City mission at the Garden, which ran nightly for 16 weeks.
* [[Elizabeth Taylor]] was the host when [[Film producer|Hollywood producer]] [[Mike Todd]] held an anniversary party for his film ''[[Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film)|Around the World in 80 Days]]'' on October 17, 1957, featuring [[Marilyn Monroe]] riding an elephant.<ref name=ballp />
* President [[John F. Kennedy]]'s birthday party in May 1962 was held at the Garden, where [[Marilyn Monroe]] memorably sang "[[Happy Birthday, Mr. President]]".<ref name=ballp />
* In the early 1960s, MSG III was the site of the Daily News Jazz Festival.<ref>''Billboard Music Week, March 13, 1961''.
[https://books.google.com/books?id=TCIEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Daily+News+Jazz+Festival%22&pg=PA14 "Daily News Jazz Festival, June 8-9"]</ref>

==Closure and demolition==
On November 3, 1960, [[Penn Station (1910-1963)|Penn Station]]'s owners [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] announced they had sold their air rights to the Madison Square Garden corporation, to build a new arena replacing Penn Station's original building. Previously, Madison Square Garden sought to replace the arena as early as 1946 due to poor sight lines from the upper decks and expanding attendance. Even though the Rangers played poorly during this time, they still sold out every game, added to the rising popularity of the Knicks, the demand for a new arena grew. Demolition  of Penn Station commenced in 1963 with major controversy surrounding the demolition of a historic architectural landmark and the new Madison Square Garden was completed in 1968 with its first event being held on February 12, 1968. Originally the third Garden was planned to close at the end of the summer of 1967 but construction delays pushed the opening to February 1968. Their final Knicks game in Madison Square Garden was on February 10, a 115–97 win against the [[Philadelphia 76ers]], just weeks after the [[1968 NBA All-Star Game]] which was originally supposed to be held in the new Garden. The final Rangers game was held on February 11, 1968, resulting in a 3–3 tie against the [[Detroit Red Wings]]. [[Jean Ratelle]] was the last player to score a goal in the arena with 19:15 remaining in the third. After the game, former Ranger greats along with players representing other NHL teams over the previous 43 years, including New York Americans players [[Lorne Carr]] and [[Eddie Shore]] skated on the ice in a closure ceremony. Two days later, the last event in the Garden was the [[Westminster Dog Show]].{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

There were no plans to keep the old Madison Square Garden and demolition commenced in the summer of 1968, finishing in early 1969. After the third Madison Square Garden was torn down, there was a proposal to build the world's tallest building on the site, prompting a major battle in the [[Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan|Hell's Kitchen]] neighborhood where it was located. Ultimately, the debate resulted in strict height restrictions in the area. The space remained a parking lot until 1989 when [[One Worldwide Plaza|Worldwide Plaza]], designed by [[David Childs]] of [[Skidmore, Owings and Merrill]], opened on the site of the old Garden.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

==In popular culture==
* The 1936 Western musical film ''[[Rhythm on the Range]]'', starring [[Bing Crosby]], was filmed in part at MSGIII during the 1935 rodeo.<ref>{{AFI film|4871|Rhythm on the Range}}</ref>
* The 50th Street Garden never held a national [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] or [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[United States presidential nominating convention|presidential nominating convention]], because neither party met in New York to select their presidential candidates between 1924 and 1976. Despite this, some of the climactic scenes of the [[thriller (genre)|thriller]] film ''[[The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film)|The Manchurian Candidate]]'' (1962), in which a [[brainwashing|brainwashed]] assassin attempts to kill a presidential nominee at a convention, was filmed at the third Garden.<ref>{{AFI film|22239|The Manchurian Candidate}}</ref>
* MSG III was featured prominently in the story of [[Ron Howard]]'s film ''[[Cinderella Man]]'' (2005), although exterior montage shots glorified it by placing it against the [[Times Square]] signs on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]], when in fact the building was one block west.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}
* Several [[Warner Bros.]] cartoons referred to the arena as "Madison Round Garden", and the [[Popeye]] cartoon ''[[Brotherly Love (Popeye cartoon)|Brotherly Love]]'' referred to the Garden as "Patterson Square Garden."{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}
* A 1958 episode of the [[CBS]] [[crime drama]] [[television series]] ''[[Richard Diamond, Private Detective]]'' entitled "Rodeo", starring [[David Janssen]], is a dramatization of the murder of a rodeo performer, Ed Murdock, played by [[Lee Van Cleef]], who seeks to reclaim the top prize at Madison Square Garden before he retires to an isolated ranch. His wife, Marcy ([[Barbara Baxley]]) conspires with Charles Decker ([[Harry Lauter]]) to have him murdered and to frame another rodeo performer for the crime. [[Dan Blocker]] appears in the episode as Cloudy Sims, still another rodeo cowboy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0686454/|title="Rodeo", ''Richard Diamond, Private Detective'', February 20, 1958|publisher=[[IMDb|Internet Movie Database]]|access-date=March 30, 2013}}</ref>
* The [[Damon Runyon]] story "The Hottest Guy In The World" revolves around a fictional event where a baby is captured by a [[circus]] [[gorilla]] named Bongo who snatches the baby from a [[baby carriage]] and climbs up to the roof of the third Garden on the 49th Street side. The baby is saved by the character Big Jule shooting Bongo between the eyes, sending him backwards onto the roof.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/guys-and-dolls/oclc/1076409262/editions?editionsView=true&referer=br|title=Formats and Editions of GUYS AND DOLLS. [WorldCat.org]|website=www.worldcat.org}}</ref>
* The Garden was featured in the 2023 film [[Sweetwater (2023 film)|Sweetwater]]

==See also==
{{Portal|Architecture|New York City}}
* [[Madison Square Garden (1879)]]
* [[Madison Square Garden (1890)]]
* [[Madison Square Garden|Madison Square Garden (1968)]]
* [[Madison Square Garden Bowl]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2009}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Madison Square Garden (1925)}}
* [http://hockey.ballparks.com/NHL/NewYorkRangers/3rdoldindex.htm Arena information]

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{{s-start|header={{s-sta|et}}}}
{{succession box | title = Home of the<br/>[[New York Americans]] |
 years = 1925–1942 | before = [[Barton Street Arena]] | after =
 last arena}}
{{succession box | title = Home of the<br/>[[New York Rangers]] |
years = 1926–1968 | before = First arena | after = [[Madison Square Garden]]}}
{{succession box | title = Home of the<br/>[[New York Knicks]] |
 years = 1946–1968 | before = First arena | after = [[Madison Square Garden]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{NewYorksportsvenues}}
{{New York Americans}}
{{New York Rangers}}
{{New York Knicks}}
{{St. John's Red Storm men's basketball navbox}}
{{Former NBA arenas}}
{{Former NHL arenas}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Madison Square Garden|.1925]]
[[Category:Basketball venues in New York City]]
[[Category:Basketball Association of America venues]]
[[Category:Boxing venues in New York City]]
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[[Category:Defunct boxing venues in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct college basketball venues in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct concert halls in the United States]]
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[[Category:Defunct National Hockey League venues]]
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[[Category:Former music venues in New York City]]
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[[Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four venues]]
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[[Category:Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan]]
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