Hinchliffe Stadium

Home plate entrance to Hinchliffe Stadium, Jul-2023.

Overview of the interior, from down the right-field line.

The 1970s and 1980s baseball configuration has been retained.

• Location: Liberty and Maple streets, Paterson, N.J. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 1932
• Home team: New York Black Yankees, Negro National League (1936-37, 1939-45); New Jersey Jackals, Frontier League (2023-present)
• Capacity: 10,000 (approx.)

The original distance marker in right field (2004).

For baseball, the field was aligned with home plate in a corner of the horseshoe, facing south. The left-field fence was 392 feet from home plate, and a marker in left-center field (not at the deepest part of the stadium) reads 461 feet, but the right-field foul pole is just 271 feet from the plate. This was apparently not the original orientation; old photos show home plate where center field is in the current configuration, which would still make right field a short porch.

Ornamental work in the stadium façade.

The Paterson public school system installed artificial turf in the 1970s, and events continued at the facility until the early 1990s. However, when I returned to take these photos in early 2004, the turf had been ripped up in many spots, and trees were growing through the stands. It was a shame to see such a great facility in this state of disrepair. Some of the site had been cleaned up and whitewashed by the time I made a return visit in 2014.

Historic preservation funds were applied for as early as 2013, when the park received historical landmark status, but it took until 2021 for efforts to finally come together. A restoration project began in April 2021 to bring Hinchliffe back to its former glory. By the fall of 2022, the stadium will be available for high school sporting events for the first time since 1997. The project also includes a senior center, restaurant, preschool, and indoor event space.

With the completion of the long-awaited restoration, the New Jersey Jackals announced that they will be moving from Montclair State University to Hinchliffe Stadium for 2023, putting a professional baseball team at the facility for the first time in 78 years. In order to offset the short right-field wall, a net about 50 feet tall has been erected and balls that hit the net are in play. A fence has also been installed across left and center field to bring the dimensions close to the usual baseball distance.