The Stadium Bowl on the campus of Stadium High School in Tacoma (Wash.) has a breathtaking view of Commencement Bay, and farther out is the Puget Sound.
Photo by Jeff Napier
Originally known as Tacoma Stadium, this unique field beneath
Stadium (Tacoma, Wash.) was considered an "eighth wonder of the world" when it was completed in 1910. It was built on the site of a luxury hotel that burned down in a mysterious fire before its completion.
It has a breathtaking view of Commencement Bay and Puget Sound and was spotlighted in the movie "10 Things I Hate About You."
Its architect and school board member Frederick Heath called the facility a "A poem in masonry ... a great athletic field set in the midst of superb natural scenery. In the symmetry of its terraced seats, in the enthusiasm that built the structure is the grandeur of the poetic spirit."
Over the years, Stadium Bowl has been the gathering place for celebrities from all walks of life. In 1911, future President Theodore Roosevelt spoke there to a crowd of 40,000 and stated he had seen nothing like it anywhere else in the world. Musician John Phillip Sousa performed there in 1915 before a crowd of 25,000 and praised the superb acoustics. In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson spoke there before 40,000 on a whistle-stop tour.
Other big names to appear there include the likes of Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Louie Armstrong, Bob Hope, Billy Sunday and William Jennings Bryan.
It originally seated 32,000, but erosion caused enough damage to reduce today's capacity to just 15,000. The facility not only hosts Stadium High's football games, but also those of Wilson (Tacoma).
Follow us on a slideshow tour of this magnificent facility, featured on the original 10 high school football stadiums to see before you die slideshow. See 15 amazing shots, and click on this link to see even more shots from photographer Jeff Napier.
