Bell Field, originally known as College Field (1893–1909), was an outdoor athletic

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

in the

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, on the campus of

Oregon State College Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

(now University) in

Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis ( ) is a city and the county seat of Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2020 United ...

. It was the home venue of

Oregon State Beavers football The Oregon State Beavers football team represents Oregon State University in NCAA Division I FBS college football. The team first fielded an organized football team in 1893 and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Jonathan Smith has been the ...

prior to the opening of Parker Stadium (now

Reser Stadium Reser Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in the northwest United States, on the campus of Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. It is the home of the Oregon State Beavers of the Pac-12 Conference, and opened in 1953 as Parker St ...

) in November 1953. Track and field continued at Bell Field until its demolition in 1974.

History

Opened in 1910, Bell Field had a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 21,000 at its peak and was named after J.R.N. "Doc" Bell, an early supporter of the college and its athletic teams. With a conventional north-south orientation, its low-profile seating was mostly covered in a

horseshoe A horseshoe is a fabricated product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toen ...

configuration, opening to the north, at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. After Parker Stadium opened, most of the seating was removed, but it hosted the school's

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

program on a cinder track until March 1974, after which it was torn down. It was located directly west of the

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

field (today's

Goss Stadium at Coleman Field Goss Stadium at Coleman Field is a college baseball park in the northwest United States, on the campus of Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. It is home to the Oregon State Beavers of the Pac-12 Conference. Through the 2014 se ...

) and parallel to its first base line. The Dixon Recreation Center, opened in 1976, occupies the site. A natural grass field for football was first installed at Bell Field in 1937; the surface was previously a mixture of dirt and

sawdust Sawdust (or wood dust) is a by-product or waste product of woodworking operations such as sawing, sanding, milling, planing, and routing. It is composed of small chippings of wood. These operations can be performed by woodworking machinery, ...

. That field surface was not unique in the

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

in the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...

(PCC):

Hayward Field Hayward Field is a track and field stadium in the northwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. It has been the home of the university's track and field teams since 1921, and was the on-campus ho ...

in Eugene,

Multnomah Stadium Multnomah may refer to: *The Multnomah people, a Chinookan people who lived in the area of modern Portland, Oregon, United States **''Multnomah'', the middle Chinookan dialect of the Multnomah people ;Places, vessels, and institutions whose name ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, and Husky Stadium in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

made similar transitions to natural grass in this period of time. In the early 1950s, Oregon State played most of its home football games in Portland at Multnomah Stadium. The final varsity game at Bell Field was the only game on campus in 1952, a 27–6

homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia. ...

loss to conference foe

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

on November 15, with an approximate attendance of 8,000. The Beavers' sole win in the PCC that season was the following week in the Civil War game in Portland. The only game in 1953 in Corvallis was the opener for Parker Stadium on November 14, a 7–0 win over

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a U.S. state, state in the Northwestern United States, Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first President of the United States, U.S. p ...

Later tracks

A new

all-weather track An all-weather running track is a rubberized, artificial running surface for track and field athletics. It provides a consistent surface for competitors to test their athletic ability unencumbered by adverse weather conditions. Historically, v ...

facility opened on the south end of campus in 1974, aligned northeast-southwest, and was named Wayne Valley Field the following year. OSU dropped its track programs (men & women) after the 1988 season, and the facility was removed in the 1990s, now occupied by the softball stadium and a gravel parking lot. The women's team was reintroduced in fall 2004 and the new Whyte Track and Field Center opened in September 2012. Adjacent to the southeast and lighted for night use, its alignment is nearly east-west, angled slightly northeast. It is bounded by 15th Street on the east and Philomath Boulevard ( US 20) on the south.

References

External links

Oregon State University Libraries: Bell Field photos

OSU Alumni Association: In memory of Bell Field
{{Oregon State Beavers football navbox Defunct college football venues Oregon State Beavers football venues Demolished sports venues in Oregon American football venues in Oregon Athletics (track and field) venues in Oregon 1910 establishments in Oregon Sports venues demolished in 1974 Sports venues completed in 1910 1974 disestablishments in Oregon