| FTBL Alabama Football History

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Where was the gym? I can see the cemetery at the far end. Was there a gym where Reese-Phifer is now?

Kirk may have the answer first, if not I'll look later tonight when I get a few minutes... But if I recall correctly, Denny Field was between the President's mansion and where Foster is now. The gymnasium was approximately where Little Hall is (closer to the Quad). Somewhere I have a map of it saved.

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

Where was the gym? I can see the cemetery at the far end. Was there a gym where Reese-Phifer is now?

It was next to or called Little Hall I believe, first home of the Basketball field. The Picture of Denny Field was taken on top of that. The area around Denny Field brought together nearly all the school's athletic teams, much like the current area around Coleman Coliseum.
In addition to the football, baseball and track fields, the area was bordered on the north by Little Hall, which housed the first on-campus home for basketball and the athletics dorm, and Moore Hall. Moore Hall, which later housed coaches' offices and another gym known as the wrestling room, was the site of grueling offseason workouts during Paul W. “Bear” Bryant's early years as UA's football coach.

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

Kirk may have the answer first, if not I'll look later tonight when I get a few minutes... But if I recall correctly, Denny Field was between the President's mansion and where Foster is now. The gymnasium was approximately where Little Hall is (closer to the Quad). Somewhere I have a map of it saved.

I posted after you sorry Brandon

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

I posted after you sorry Brandon

Glad you did, because I wasn't 100% sure on it.

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

Birmingham Al.

West End Park/Slag Pile Field

Slag Pile Field (also called Baseball Park or West End Park) was a baseball ground located on land west of Alice Furnace and north of the Railroad Reservation on the western edge of Birmingham's original city limit, adjoining Smithfield. The park abutted 7th Street North at 1st Avenue North, south of the Car Line Railroad and north the Alabama Great Southern Railroad tracks

After 1886 the property was owned by the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company (TCI) . The park earned its nickname for the piles of furnace slag outside the outfield fences, which served as free seating for those who didn't want to pay to sit in the bleachers.

The field and a few wooden bleachers were leased, in 60-day terms, to the first owners of the Birmingham Barons, who played there from the mid-1880s until the completion of Rickwood Field in 1910. Ty Cobb, having just attended the trial where his mother was acquitted for killing his father, rejoined his Detroit Tigers teammates in a barnstorming game against the Barons at Slag Pile Field early April 1906.

The park also hosted the Alabama and Auburn football teams in the early 1900s, and was the site of the 1902, 1904 and 1905 Iron Bowls.

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

Birmingham Al.​

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Birmingham Fairgrounds/Birmingham International Raceway.​

The Birmingham Fairgrounds provided for the fourth location of Alabama home games in Birmingham and is located in western Birmingham at the location of Birmingham International Raceway. Alabama played home games at the fairgrounds between the 1905 and 1911 seasons, with an all-time record at the Birmingham Fairgrounds of 12–6–2.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Kirk may have the answer first, if not I'll look later tonight when I get a few minutes... But if I recall correctly, Denny Field was between the President's mansion and where Foster is now. The gymnasium was approximately where Little Hall is (closer to the Quad). Somewhere I have a map of it saved.

Here’s the map I was referring to…

UA campus in 1941

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

Here’s the map I was referring to…

UA campus in 1941

View attachment 27421

Excellent!!!!

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Excellent!!!!

The stories that the Marr's Spring bath house could have told...

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

Montgomery Al.

Highland Park
Highland Park provided for the second location of Alabama home games in the capital city. The Crimsons played home games at Highland in the 1901, 1903, and the 1907 seasons. Alabama's all-time record at Riverside was 1–0–2.[



Montgomery Al.

Crampton Bowl

The Cramton Bowl provided for the fourth and final location of Alabama home games in the capital city. The Tide played home games at the Cramton Bowl in the 1922 through 1932 seasons, in 1934, between the 1944 through 1946 seasons and again between the 1951 through 1954 seasons. Alabama's all-time record at the Cramton Bowl was 17–3.[5]

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

Mobile Al.

Ladd–Peebles Stadium​

The stadium was constructed in 1948 with private funding from a local banker wishing to create a permanent honor to his mentor, Ernest F. Ladd, a local banking magnate who died in 1941, with the stadium initially carrying the name "Ernest F. Ladd Memorial Stadium". On May 4 and 5 of 1955, a tour headlining country and western stars Hank Snow, Faron Young, The Wilburn Brothers, Mother Maybelle, The Carter Sisters (including June, the future Mrs. Johnny Cash), Jimmy Rogers Snow, The Davis Sisters, Onie Wheeler and a still unknown Elvis Presley played two nightly shows there. More than 40 years later, in 1997, it was renamed "Ladd-Peebles Stadium", continuing to honor Ladd, but also honoring E. B. Peebles, a civic leader who was instrumental in the revitalization of the Senior Bowl.
The stadium's first game was in 1948, between Alabama and Vanderbilt on October 2, with the Tide scoring on the final play for a 14–14 tie. From 1948 to 1968, with the exceptions of 1960 and 1962, the Crimson Tide played one game per year in Ladd Stadium. In 1958 Bear Bryant coached his first game as Alabama's head coach in Ladd Stadium when the Crimson Tide fell 13–3 to LSU.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Ladd was our home field in HS... Good memories and a unique experience, but it was a dump.

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

Mobile Al.

Murphy High School Stadium​

Alabama opened the 1940 season in Mobile. In the first night game in Alabama football history, the Crimson Tide beat Spring Hill, 26–0, in front of 7,500 fans at the Murphy High School Stadium.[6][7] The 1944 Alabama Crimson Tide football team hosted Ole Miss, on November 11, winning 34–6. The Crimson Tide posted an all-time record at Murphy Stadium of 2–0.

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

Mobile Al.​

Monroe Park​

Records of the 1907 season indicate that Alabama played LSU at Monroe Park in Mobile on November 23, defeating the Tigers, 6–4
By the 1920s Mobile’s Monroe Park was a popular place hosting baseball games, concerts, movie premieres, and political rallies, and was nicknamed the “Coney Island of the South”. The park was also the spring training destination for the Orioles (then the St. Louis Browns), Indians (then known as the Naps) and White Sox. Cy Young played here as a pitcher during the Naps 1909 spring training, and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson would play on the field as a player for the Naps in 1912. Baseball was so popular in Mobile at the time that when the Alabama legislature outlawed the playing of baseball on Sundays, people went on strike and opposed the ban, so much so that Mayor Harry Hartwell successfully lobbied to get the ban overturned.








Shoeless Joe Jackson played at Monroe Park as a member of the Cleveland Naps in 1912

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Shoeless Joe Jackson played at Monroe Park as a member of the Cleveland Naps in 1912

Shoeless Joe played in 2 parks that Alabama also played a game in... Monroe and Rickwood. I find that neat, but I'm also weird.

 

[Kirk Van de Graaff]

Shoeless Joe played in 2 parks that Alabama also played a game in... Monroe and Rickwood. I find that neat, but I'm also weird.

Lot of baseball history around Alabama that people now days forget or don't know.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

Lot of baseball history around Alabama that people now days forget or don't know.

And there's your next Bama rabbit hole topic!