Herty Field, also known as Alumni Athletic Field,
was the original on-campus playing venue for
football and
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 ...
at the
University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
(UGA) in
Athens, Georgia
Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...
. It opened in the Fall of 1891 and hosting the first UGA home football game against
Mercer University
Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,000 ...
on January 30, 1892.
Before its use for athletics, the field was a marching ground. Under the direction of
Dr. Charles Herty, a professor of Chemistry at UGA and the creator of the
UGA varsity football and baseball teams, the field was landscaped to host games and practices for the University's varsity and intramural activities.
Outside his faculty duties, Herty also served as the Instructor in Physical Culture from 1894 to 1896 and as Physical Director from 1896 until his resignation from UGA in November 1901. He led efforts to improve the field including raising
USD$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
1,900.00 in 1897 from UGA alumni to further landscape the field and build bleachers. The field was originally referred to as Alumni Athletic Field; however, the name was changed to Herty Field after several years.
Herty Field was converted into a parking lot in the 1940s; however, it was converted back into a greenspace in 1999.
Footnotes
External links
Herty Fieldhistorical marker
American football venues in Georgia (U.S. state)
Defunct college football venues
Defunct college baseball venues in the United States
Georgia Bulldogs baseball venues
Georgia Bulldogs football venues
Baseball venues in Georgia (U.S. state)
Buildings and structures in Athens, Georgia
1891 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)
Sports venues completed in 1891
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