More photo help...

[Abravefan11]

First of all thanks for the great comments and help. Secondly this is not my photo, but here’s how I came upon it so to speak.

A few months ago I was doing some random searches at the library and one of the returns caught my eye. It was a photo of the NY Giants in a library owned collection. After a little more searching and I found out that the collection was donated to the library and was a compilation of work done by a local photographer in the early 20th century. Almost all of the photographs were of buildings or machinery except for this one. It’s actually a glass plate negative and after a little paper work and a little money the library provided me with a high resolution scan.

Since receiving the image I have wanted to try and accurately date it if I could as well as determine where it was taken.

As of yesterday I had it narrowed down to the first week of April if it was taken in Virginia. Given the rest of the photographers collection that was almost a given.

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

Perhaps a clue lies within the fans in the stands as to the whereabouts...

Before leaving for the library today I was studying the photo and noticed this guy.



I noticed his hat had what looked like the letter Z and an O on it. After a little more looking I could barely make out a little bit of another O. ZOO! The Virginia Zoo was opened in 1892 in Norfolk in Lafayette Park and still exists today.

With that I headed to the library and looked at the Virginia Pilot newspaper for the first week of April 1913. On April 3 they printed a picture of the Norfolk Tars at Lafayette Park with what appears to be the same grandstand behind them.

Richmond opened a new ballpark that year (Broad Street Park) and it does not look like the one in this photo.

So the photo should have been taken April 3, 1913 in Norfolk, VA the day the Giants came to town.

An estimated 4,000 fans came out to watch Matty throw against the hometown club. The Giants won 10-4.

Edited to add: I'm not saying I'm 100% correct, let me know if you spot something that doesn't add up.