A new steel and concrete stadium, home to the American League baseball team the Philadelphia Athletics, opened to fans on April 12, 1909. Situated on ground bounded by what are now West Lehigh Avenue, North 20th Street, West Somerset Street, and North 21st Street, Shibe Park was constructed in less than year as the Athletics desperately needed a new place to play. At the time, they were playing in Columbia Park, a wood park that was quickly deteriorating, located in the city's Brewerytown neighborhood.

Shibe Park was an architectural landmark with modern construction that featured arched windows, brick walls, and a copper-trimmed roof. Among other stadiums of the time, Shibe Park boasted the first to have a public address system and a scoreboard capable of displaying team line-ups.

Shibe Park was home to the Athletics from 1909 until the team moved away in the mid 1950s. For a time starting in 1938, the Athletics shared the stadium with the National League Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies continued to use Shibe Park after the Athletics' departure until 1970. The stadium was renamed Connie Mack Stadium just before the start of the 1953 baseball season. The park was demolished forty years ago in 1976.

The Philadelphia Record photograph morgue (#V07) contains a number of photographs of Shibe Park, baseball spectators, and baseball players. Additionally, a number of books on the history of baseball locally and regionally are available in HSP's library.