Fans across the street from Shibe Park take in a game, 1910. In 1934, Jack Shibe, with attendance dropping and people charging admission to watch games from their roofs and houses across the street, erected a 38 foot wall (a “spite fence”) and the view from across the street was gone. The neighbors took Shibe to court. Shibe was successfully defended by Richardson Dilworth, future Mayor of Philadelphia. When Dilworth ran for Mayor in 1950, he was viciously opposed by the citizens in the Shibe Park neighborhood. They may have been Democrats, but they hadn’t forgotten. They voted for Republican John Fine, who ultimately won the election. (Dilworth would win in 1956.)
