Saint Louis 1904-The Olympic stadium (cropped)

Francis Gymnasium is a building at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

, currently used by the university's athletics department. Built in 1903, it is located in

St. Louis County, Missouri St. Louis County is located in the eastern-central portion of Missouri. It is bounded by the City of St. Louis and the Mississippi River to the east, the Missouri River to the north, and the Meramec River to the south. At the 2020 census, th ...

, on the far western edge of the university's

Danforth Campus The Danforth Campus is the main campus at Washington University in St. Louis. Formerly known as the Hilltop Campus, it was officially dedicated as the Danforth Campus on September 17, 2006, in honor of William H. Danforth, the 13th Chancellor of th ...

. It is part of the

Washington University Hilltop Campus Historic District The Washington University Hilltop Campus Historic District was the site of the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the 1904 Summer Olympics. Many of the exposition buildings were temporary in nature, but a number of permanent structures were ...

. Completed in time for 1904's

Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds tota ...

, the gymnasium was used as the main indoor venue for the

1904 Summer Olympics The 1904 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the III Olympiad and also known as St. Louis 1904) were an international multi-sport event held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from 29 August to 3 September 1904, as part of an extended s ...

, hosting the

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

and

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, s ...

events. After the Olympics, the building was turned over to the Washington University Athletics Department. In the early 1920s, a field house and a swimming pool were built next to Francis Gym. In 1985, a major renovation connected Francis Gym and the renovated field house with additional facilities and recreation space, and replaced the pool with the Olympic-sized Millstone Pool.

References

{{coord, 38, 38, 55.7, N, 90, 18, 53.1, W, region:US-MO_type:landmark, display=title Venues of the 1904 Summer Olympics Olympic boxing venues Olympic fencing venues Sports venues in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis campus Defunct boxing venues in the United States Boxing in Missouri Sports venues in Missouri