Elephant Memorial at Fenway Park
Largest Crowd at Fenway Park
Long before crowdsourcing became a thing - In 1914, the children of Boston help raise enough money to place three Elephants at the Franklin Park Zoo.
There is a marker at Fenway Park to remember the occasion when the Elephants first met the children of Boston. It was the largest gathering at Fenway Park. (Due to current fire rules - this looks to stand forever.)
Elephant Prints on the Ground in the Grandstand area
Things I Learned
- Boston Post's publisher Edwin A. Grozier came up with the idea of having children collect money for the city to buy the elephants.
- Only nickel and pennies were accepted in boxes that were put in stores all around the city.
- The city raised: $6,000. ($151,948.45 in 2018) If they were all pennies it would be weigh 38 lbs.
- 70,000 Children and Parents attended the event on June 6, 1914 - the gates were to open at 9am, but such a large crowd gathered that they opened it up early.
- The elephants spent the night at the park before they came out on the field.
- In 1914, the Average Baseball attendance at Fenway Park was 6,055!
History Fun Facts
- Babe Ruth would joined the Red Sox a month later - July 11, 1914
- Largest crowd for a Baseball game at Fenway Park was 49,000 on September 23, 1935.
- Largest Concert crowd for a Paul McCartney concert was 36,064 on July 10, 2013.
Remembering the Elephants
- Mollie died on April 22, 1921 of a heart attack- Harvard's Natural Museum has the skeleton. (Some media outlets called her Molly)
- Tony died on January 19, 1939 of cancer
- Waddy died November 5, 1940 - one of the longest elephants to live in captivity.
Sign at the Park
