Columbia Park

Columbia Park was where the Athletics story began. A modest wooden ballpark in the Brewerytown section of North Philadelphia, it opened with the franchise in 1901 as Connie Mack built his first competitive clubs.

The A's captured American League pennants here in 1902 and 1905, quickly establishing Philadelphia as an early power. But wooden parks of the era were small and fire-prone, and as the A's drew bigger crowds, Mack and co-owner Ben Shibe set out to build something permanent and grand.

That vision became Shibe Park, and after the 1908 season the Athletics moved a short distance away into the first steel-and-concrete stadium in the major leagues.