Whittier Field is the outdoor stadium of

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

. Located in

Brunswick, Maine Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area, Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin Intern ...

, it is the field for Bowdoin football, Bowdoin outdoor track and field, and the Maine Distance Festival. The Whittier Field Athletic Complex was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in June 2017.

Whittier Athletic Field

Designed by and named for Bowdoin College alumnus and professor Frank N. Whittier, the field opened on October 3, 1896, with a football game between Bowdoin and Maine State College (now the Black Bears of the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

). Whittier's interest in athletics also led him to help with the design and construction of the new Sargent Gymnasium and Hyde Athletic Building (now known as the Smith Union).

Hubbard Grandstand

The Hubbard Grandstand was designed and built in 1903. The original grandstands are 122 feet long, 37 feet wide and seat nearly 600 people. The Grandstand was dedicated on June 22, 1904. Total capacity of all the seating is 9,000. It was designed in the Shingle Style.

Jack Magee Track

The track around the field was built in 1970 as a tribute to Bowdoin coach Jack Magee, who retired in 1955. The six lane all-weather track was renovated during the summer of 2005 with a grant from the Nike corporation.

Olympic history

The Magee Track was the site of a 1972 Olympic Training Camp that brought American Olympic athletes including

Steve Prefontaine Steve Roland "Pre" Prefontaine (January 25, 1951 – May 30, 1975) was an American long-distance runner who from 1973 to 1975 set American records at every distance from 2,000 to 10,000 meters. He competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics, and ...

to Bowdoin for the summer before the

Munich Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

. The track was the home track for

Joan Benoit Samuelson Joan Benoit Samuelson (born May 16, 1957) is an American marathon runner who was the first women's Olympic Games marathon champion, winning the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She held the fastest time for an American woma ...

, a 1981 Bowdoin graduate and the 1984 Olympic Gold Medal Marathon champion.

References

{{Bowdoin College Bowdoin Polar Bears football College football venues American football venues in Maine Buildings and structures in Brunswick, Maine Bowdoin College National Register of Historic Places in Cumberland County, Maine