Madison Square Garden III
hand-colored postcard
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| Full name | Madison Square Garden |
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| Location | New York City |
| Coordinates | 40°45′45″N 73°59′16″W / 40.7624°N 73.9877°WCoordinates: 40°45′45″N 73°59′16″W / 40.7624°N 73.9877°W |
| Owner | Tex Rickard |
| Operator | Tex Rickard |
| Capacity | Basketball: 18,496 Ice hockey: 15,925 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1925 |
| Closed | 1968 |
| Demolished | 1968–1969 |
| Architect | Thomas W. Lamb |
| Tenants | |
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New York/Brooklyn Americans (NHL) (1925–1942) New York Rangers (NHL) (1926–1968) St. John's Red Storm (NCAA) (1930s–1969) National Invitation Tournament (1938–1967) New York Knicks (BAA/NBA) (1946–1968) |
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Madison Square Garden (MSG III) was an indoor arena in New York City, the third bearing that name. It was built in 1925 and closed in 1968, and was located on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Manhattan, on the site of the city's trolley-car barns. It was on the west side of Eighth Avenue. It was the first Garden that was not located near Madison Square. MSG III was the home of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League and the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association, and also hosted numerous boxing matches, concerts, and other events.
Ground breaking on the third Madison Square Garden took place on January 9, 1925. Designed by the noted theater architect Thomas W. Lamb, it was built at the cost of $4.75 million in 249 days by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who assembled backers he called his "600 millionaires" to fund the project. The new arena was dubbed "The House That Tex Built." In contrast to the ornate towers of Stanford White's second Garden, the exterior of MSG III was a simple box. Its most distinctive feature was the ornate marquee above the main entrance, with its seemingly endless abbreviations (Tomw., V/S, Rgrs, Tonite, Thru, etc.) Even the name of the arena was abbreviated, to "Madison Sq. Garden".
The arena, which opened on December 15, 1925, was 200 feet (61 m) by 375 feet (114 m), with seating on three levels, and a maximum capacity of 18,496 spectators for boxing. It had poor sight lines, especially for hockey, and fans sitting virtually anywhere behind the first row of the side balcony could count on having some portion of the ice obstructed. The fact that there was poor ventilation and that smoking was permitted often led to a haze in the upper portions of the Garden.
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