Main Street Ball Grounds

This baseball field next to the Port Jervis Middle School, has been home to baseball games in the city since the 1850's. Several 19th-century teams played their home games here, including the Delaware Base Ball Club and the Port Jervis Red Stockings. The Red Stockings were a black baseball team, which played both black and white clubs from the region in the late 19th-century. Their pitcher and left fielder, who also served as the secretary for the team, Robert Broadhead, would later play for the New York Gorhams in 1890. The Gorhams were a very successful club, who were members of the very short-lived National Colored Base Ball League, the first Negro League, in 1887. The Delawares played local teams, as well as university teams and even National League teams, such as the Philadelphia Athletics and the Louisville Grays. The Delawares saw a number of their players end up playing in the majors, including Mike "King" Kelly, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame and Fred E. Nyce, who is buried at Laurel Grove Cemetery in Port Jervis.