48. University Field
In 1876, the University Hotel Company purchased a plot of land just east
of the College grounds, using part for a vegetable garden and renting
the rest to Princeton’s Baseball Association for a nominal fee.
Ownership of University Field was transferred to the College trustees
in 1888, who made such improvements as enlarging the play area, constructing
fencing, and installing bleachers, a grandstand, a baseball diamond and
a one-third mile track. The enhanced venue officially opened in
May 1890 with a baseball match and other athletic games against Yale.
University Field was also used for varsity football games, but at great
cost: each season, the covered grandstand had to be augmented with $10,000
of additional bleachers, which were then removed after the final game.
The impracticality of this recurrent expense, along with frequent alumni
complaints about poor sight lines, led to the construction of Palmer Stadium
in 1914 as the new home for Tiger football. For many years, football
practices continued at University Field; in this picture, the 1932 squad
exercises in the team’s original home. University Field
was used for baseball and other activities until 1962, when the stadium
was removed to make way for the construction of the Engineering Quadrangle.
Part of the large brick wall that had marked the southern boundary of
the athletic grounds, including the ornate Ferris Thompson Gateway installed
in 1911 (a gift of Ferris Thompson ’1888), was left undisturbed
and today serves as a formal entrance to the academic buildings built
on the site.
- To learn more about Princeton’s athletic
facilities, see Café Vivian picture #6,
7, 49, 56,
61, and 111.
- To learn more about track and field at Princeton,
see quotation #4 and Café Vivian picture
# 7.
- To learn more about baseball at Princeton, see
icon #9, and Café Vivian picture #18
and 22.
- To learn more about football at Princeton, see
quotation #22, and Café Vivian picture
#9, 12, 38,
39, 48, 49,
56, 102, and 111.
- To learn more about athletics at Princeton, see
quotation #4, 9, 21,
and 22, and Café Vivian picture #6,
7, 9, 18,
22, 39, 48,
49, 54, 56,
61, 69, 72,
97, 102, 111,
123, and 126.
- To learn more about the University Hotel, see Café
Vivian picture #62 and 127.
- To learn more about Princeton’s vanished
buildings, see Café Vivian picture #6,
8, 25, 37,
40, 46, 58,
62, 78, and 127.
- To learn more about campus grounds and buildings, see icon #1, 5, and 8, quotation #5, 7, 9, 28, and 39, and Café Vivian picture #4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 16, 20, 25, 30, 33, 37, 40, 46, 54, 58, 61, 62, 67, 68, 71, 78, 85, 87, 95, 100, 101, 102, 104, 105, 108, 109, 111, 118, 124, 127, and 133.