Recent from talks
Franklin Field
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Franklin Field
Franklin Field is a sports stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus. Named after Penn's founder, Benjamin Franklin, it is the home stadium for the Penn Relays, and the university's venue for football, track and field, and lacrosse. Franklin is also used by Penn students for recreation, intramural and club sports, including touch football and cricket; it is also the site of Penn's commencement exercises, weather permitting.
Franklin Field is the oldest still operating college football stadium in the nation. It was the first college stadium in the United States with a scoreboard and the second with an upper deck of seats. In 1922, it was the site of the first radio broadcast of a football game on WIP, as well as of the first television broadcast of a football game by Philco.
From 1958 through 1970, Franklin Field was the home of the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). It hosted the NFL Championship Game in December 1960, as the Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers by four points.
Until around 1860, the grounds of what became Franklin Field served as a potter's field. The crania of some of these individuals were acquired by Samuel Morton and are now housed in the Penn Museum.
Franklin Field was built for US$100,000 (equivalent to $3,779,600 in 2024) and dedicated on April 20, 1895, for the first running of the Penn Relays. The Field supplemented and eventually replaced the venue called University Athletic Grounds, which was located a few blocks west on a block bounded by Spruce Street (north), 38th Street (east), Pine Street (south), Woodland Avenue and 37th Street T-intersection (northwest). Its location was typically given as "37th and Spruce".
Permanent Franklin Field construction did not begin until after the turn of the century. Weightman Hall gymnasium, the stadium, and permanent grandstands were designed by architect Frank Miles Day & Brother and were erected from 1903 to 1905 at a cost of US$500,000 (equivalent to $17,498,148 in 2024). The field was 714 feet (218 m) long and 443 feet (135 m) wide. The site featured a ¼-mile track, a football field, and a baseball diamond. Beneath the stands were indoor tracks and indoor training facilities.
In 1916, university officials, led by George Neitzche, planned with the city to build a new 100,000-seat half-sunken stadium for $750,000 at Woodland Ravine, a depression on the southeastern side of Woodland Cemetery. Plans called for a new train station called Union Station which would feature a Pennsylvania Railroad stop and a stop on a proposed (and never built) elevated subway line connected to the Market–Frankford Line. Architecture firm Koronski & Cameron created a rendering but plans quickly collapsed. Five years later, it was decided instead to expand Franklin Field.
The current stadium structure was built in the 1920s, designed by Day & Klauder, after the original wooden bleachers were torn down. The lower tier was erected in 1922. The old wood stands were razed immediately following the Penn Relays and the new concrete lower tier and seating for 50,000 were built. The second tier was added in 1925, again designed by Day & Klauder, when it became the second and the largest two-tiered stadium in the United States.
Hub AI
Franklin Field AI simulator
(@Franklin Field_simulator)
Franklin Field
Franklin Field is a sports stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus. Named after Penn's founder, Benjamin Franklin, it is the home stadium for the Penn Relays, and the university's venue for football, track and field, and lacrosse. Franklin is also used by Penn students for recreation, intramural and club sports, including touch football and cricket; it is also the site of Penn's commencement exercises, weather permitting.
Franklin Field is the oldest still operating college football stadium in the nation. It was the first college stadium in the United States with a scoreboard and the second with an upper deck of seats. In 1922, it was the site of the first radio broadcast of a football game on WIP, as well as of the first television broadcast of a football game by Philco.
From 1958 through 1970, Franklin Field was the home of the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). It hosted the NFL Championship Game in December 1960, as the Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers by four points.
Until around 1860, the grounds of what became Franklin Field served as a potter's field. The crania of some of these individuals were acquired by Samuel Morton and are now housed in the Penn Museum.
Franklin Field was built for US$100,000 (equivalent to $3,779,600 in 2024) and dedicated on April 20, 1895, for the first running of the Penn Relays. The Field supplemented and eventually replaced the venue called University Athletic Grounds, which was located a few blocks west on a block bounded by Spruce Street (north), 38th Street (east), Pine Street (south), Woodland Avenue and 37th Street T-intersection (northwest). Its location was typically given as "37th and Spruce".
Permanent Franklin Field construction did not begin until after the turn of the century. Weightman Hall gymnasium, the stadium, and permanent grandstands were designed by architect Frank Miles Day & Brother and were erected from 1903 to 1905 at a cost of US$500,000 (equivalent to $17,498,148 in 2024). The field was 714 feet (218 m) long and 443 feet (135 m) wide. The site featured a ¼-mile track, a football field, and a baseball diamond. Beneath the stands were indoor tracks and indoor training facilities.
In 1916, university officials, led by George Neitzche, planned with the city to build a new 100,000-seat half-sunken stadium for $750,000 at Woodland Ravine, a depression on the southeastern side of Woodland Cemetery. Plans called for a new train station called Union Station which would feature a Pennsylvania Railroad stop and a stop on a proposed (and never built) elevated subway line connected to the Market–Frankford Line. Architecture firm Koronski & Cameron created a rendering but plans quickly collapsed. Five years later, it was decided instead to expand Franklin Field.
The current stadium structure was built in the 1920s, designed by Day & Klauder, after the original wooden bleachers were torn down. The lower tier was erected in 1922. The old wood stands were razed immediately following the Penn Relays and the new concrete lower tier and seating for 50,000 were built. The second tier was added in 1925, again designed by Day & Klauder, when it became the second and the largest two-tiered stadium in the United States.
Recent media