Lansdale "Then & Now"

I love old pictures from the area, especially ones of Lansdale. But I really love “then & now” picture combinations, a current picture taken at the same location & angle of an old photograph and then placed side by side so you can really see the differences. 

This “then & now” combination is a photo of what is known as Weaver Field which is at the Lansdale Memorial Park. The field is named after Joseph K. “Dobbie” Weaver, a coach, leader & counselor and considered the “father” of interscholastic sports in Lansdale (as per the plaque on the grandstand wall).   

In this view looking northwest from the outfield you can see the three buildings on the left half of the pictures are all still there but the grand stands are different and the house directly behind them is long gone. Notice the high fence circling around the field. I guess unless you found a nice peak hole in it you had to pay to watch a game. And notice the third base line. It is over to the left quite a bit from where it is today. I am thinking this must be before Penn Street was there for the outfield would have to extend past it. Unless a baseball outfield was much shorter then? Also, the grass field certainly doesn’t look as well groomed as you see today. I don’t know the year of the “then” photograph, I’m guessing sometime in the 20’s?. The “now” photo is from April 29, 2013.

I thought this was interesting. In 1948 the field was home to the professional baseball team the “Lansdale Dukes” but that didn’t work out too well. They not only were the worst team ever to play in the North Atlantic League but, they were one of the worst teams ever in the history of professional baseball. With a season record of 28 wins and 101 losses, they were worse then the 1962 NY Mets. It may not be the proudest piece of Lansdale history but is an interesting piece.