The Green Bay Packers have not always called Lambeau Field "home". There was a time when they used the local East High School and its adjoining City Stadium for practices and games. It was an era when the NFL was still learning to fly and things such as luxury suites and season ticket sales were decades away from even being thought of.
City Stadium joined East High School's landscape in 1925, a full 69 years after the school was founded. The Packers had tired of playing at Bellevue Park, seeing its 5,000 capacity as a hindrance for future growth and moved into City Stadium when it first opened its gate. It was a sort of homecoming for the team's founder, coach and star tailback Curly Lambeau, who had graduated from East High School in 1917.
While City Stadium originally fit just 6,000, it underwent numerous renovations over the years and would ultimately finish its heyday with a capacity of 25,000. It offered ew amenities too, with no locker rooms for either team nor bathrooms in site. While the Packers would eventually get a locker room of their own and bathrooms would be added, the visiting team would always be forced to change in their hotel before arriving at the game.
Vern Cowellen's touchdown reception from Carlie Mathys in the second quarter kickstarted the Packers offense as they beat the Hammond Pros 14-o in the first game ever played there on September 20, 1925 in front of a throng of 3,000. Soon, players from all over the NFL would swoon over City Stadium's immaculate playing surface. In an era where teams routinely paid little attention to such meager details, this was not a small luxury. There was a 2x8 wooden board that surrounded the field that made for a unique advantage for the defense as defenders salivated at the opportunity to drive opponents into the lumber and onto the dirt running track right next to it.
For much of its history, the operators of City Stadium always sought to turn it into a gem with an eye on the future. In its early years, fans would enter through the open West end zone but sometime later a 400 foot long sandstone wall was added along Baird Street where fans could enter through its turnstiles and into a courtyard filled with concessions and merchandise. Fans flocked towards the Reimer's Smoke Toasted Wieners stand, a local favorite back in the day, before walking over to the still-opened West end zone to find their seats.
Once they entered the stadium, many saw football under the lights (added in 1935) for the first time. They were amazed at the utter beauty of the incadescent bulbs as it bathed the players and the best ground in the game in light amidst the unique backdrop of the u-shaped stadium.
Ten years into City Stadium's history, the Packers signed a recent college graduate by the name of Don Hutson. Over the next 11 years, he would dazzle crowds with his pass-catching ability, making an often overlooked style of play into a spectacle. He would finish his career with the most receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns, but the people of Green Bay, Wisconsin most likely treasure his 146 catches for 2,776 yards and 28 touchdowns at City Stadium more.
The stadium was still quaking from Don Hutson's greatness four years after his retirement when it witnessed an arial circus that shocked the league. On November 13, 1949, New York Giants quarterback Charlie Conerly completed 16 of 29 passes for 357 yards and four touchdowns, with seven of his completions going toe receiver Gene Roberts for 212 yards and three touchdowns. In an era where the forward pass was still frowned upon, the 30-10 pasting that the Packers received that day was a peek into the future.
As the 1950s rolled around, the Green Bay Packers went through some very hard times. Whether it was coaches leaving almost as quickly as they had gotten there or the organization failing to find or refine talented players, it was clear to all that the Packers had veered from their winning ways. Suddenly, their six previous NFL championships were a thing of the past.
Of course, it didn't help matters that City Stadium was quickly becoming obsolete in the ever expanding world of professional football. In fact, of the four NFL championship games that the Green Bay Packers had played in, not one of them was played at City Stadium, with the lone Packers home game being played in Milwaukee where its larger County Stadium could hold crowds twice as large. Forever searching for more gate receipts, the Packers had begun playing two or three games a year at Milwaukee's various ballparks since 1934 and considered County Stadium a second home. It was clear to all that the time had come for the Green Bay Packers to look elsewhere for a more permanent home.
The Packers found a spot just 4.4 miles West of City Stadium and began building a new City Stadium. The Packers' final game at old City Stadium was another peek into the future. Rookie Bart Starr got the ball rolling with a 39-yard touchdown pass to Bill Houton for the 2-5 Packers. However, the 2-5 Packers couldn't sustain the lead and lost to the 1-6 San Francisco 49ers 17-16 in front of a sparse crowd of just 17,986 on November 18, 1956. The Packers ended their stay at old City Stadium with an 88-41-7 record
They moved to the new City Stadium the following eyar and renamed the stadium after the team's founder, Curly Lambeau, died in 1965. Meanwhile, the old City Stadium was eventually demolished and replaced with a more modern stadium that's more suitable for high school football. It along with East High School, remain there to this day. Once it provided a peek into the future, now it offers a glance at the past.
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