A New Stadium for Catholic University

With 1923 Brookland in the background

I recently came across these two photos in the Harris & Ewing Collection at the Library of Congress (click to enlarge them). I had never seen them before, but they depict an event with which I am familiar. Catholic University began in 1887 solely for graduate-level religious men. Sports were not part of their clerical training. In order to grow, the university soon began admitting lay students as well, and then undergraduates in 1904. These students began pressing for sports facilities, and were allowed the use of the field where Curley Hall now stands for football and baseball. That lasted for a time, but students wanted a real gymnasium and stadium. The gym was opened in 1919, supposedly as a temporary building (it’s still in use as the Crough Center for Architectural Studies). It took a few more years for funds to be raised, but ground was broken for the new stadium on May 26, 1923. Here’s a photo of that event:

The stadium was formally dedicated on October 4th, 1924, so the two photos at the top of this post were likely taken in the late fall or winter of 1923, while work was still ongoing. There are some interesting things to point out both on campus, and in the neighborhood.

The university’s power plant appears in both pictures. Built in 1911 by the firm of T.H. Poole, its ornate industrial style and distinctive yellow clay tile smokestack set it apart from other campus buildings. The building is still in service, but as technology changed the power plant no longer needed the smokestack, and it was removed in 2016. Behind the plant on the left the steeple of the Brookland Baptist Church at the corner of 12th and Newton can be seen. It would burn down in 1926. And just to the right of the smokestack is the Masonic Lodge at the corner of 12th and Monroe. It was built in 1911 and still stands.

The power plant was built on what was once a cow pasture. In the early days of the school the cattle provided milk and meat for the students and faculty, and were tended by the groundskeeper, Nicholas Crook. This solid brick structure is the groundskeeper’s barn. By 1923 the cows were gone, but landscaping equipment and the horses to pull them were stored there.

And this is the groundskeepers house, where Nicholas Crook raised his son Louis. Louis attended CUA, received a bachelor’s degree in 1909, furthered his studies on aeronautics at Johns Hopkins, then returned to Catholic University and eventually became head of the department of aeronautical engineering. Louis Crook also was the main planner for the new stadium, reconfiguring the ground where he grew up.

The Michigan Avenue bridge was not yet built when these two pictures were taken, allowing us to see some of the buildings along old Bunker Hill Road. This imposing brick structure at the corner of 9th and Bunker Hill Road is the Brookland Town Hall . It was built in 1893 and provided meeting space for a variety of social and religious groups. Bypassed by the streetcar in 1910 and blocked in by the bridge in 1937, it fell into disuse and was torn down in the 1950s. Here’s another view, from 1926:

In addition to the three-story brick Town Hall, there are a number of shops on the south side of the street gathered near the tracks. Hailer’s Inn was enormously popular with Catholic University students. The homes on the north side of the street were populated almost entirely by African Americans. One of them ran a car repair business behind the houses, along a no-longer extant side road. There was also a coal yard there for many years.

The Franciscan Monastery is plainly visible, as is a newly-paved Perry Street. Some of those houses along Perry still stand. There are lots of other Brookland landmarks visible in the two photos, including St. Anthony’s Church, the Brooks mansion, the University train station, and more. Zoom in and check them out at your leisure.

As for the stadium, it survived for almost 70 years. Here’s a picture of it in its heyday in 1932, where a military Mass honoring the bicentennial of George Washington’s birth is being celebrated.

When the Columbus School of Law and the Pryzbla Center were constructed, the stadium ground was reconfigured, and now serves as a relaxing green space on campus.