Ross Field
Encyclopedia
Ross Field was an American football
and baseball
field located in Auburn
, Alabama
, United States
from 1921 until 1998. It was the home field of the Auburn High School Tigers
football team from 1921 until 1935. Ross Field was named for Bennett Battle Ross, Jr., an Auburn High School alumnus who was Dean of Chemistry and acting president of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (today Auburn University
) who had worked to bring county flagship status to Auburn High in 1914. Ross Field was the first on-campus stadium for Auburn High School; previous football teams had shared Drake Field
with the Auburn University football team. From 1929 onward, the field was sometimes known as Mitchell Field.
By the mid-1930s, Ross Field had grown too small to accommodate football crowds, and Auburn High games were moved back to Drake Field. When the former high school campus was transferred to the city of Auburn as a community center in the 1950s, the field was used as a community football and baseball field, and by the 1980s was being used only as a baseball field. The Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center was built on the site of Ross Field in 1998.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
field located in Auburn
Auburn, Alabama
Auburn is a city in Lee County, Alabama, United States. It is the largest city in eastern Alabama with a 2010 population of 53,380. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from 1921 until 1998. It was the home field of the Auburn High School Tigers
Auburn High School Tigers
The Auburn High School Tigers are the athletic teams which represent Auburn High School in Auburn, Alabama. Auburn High School's athletics program fields twenty-one varsity teams as a member of the large-school classification of the Alabama High School Athletic Association...
football team from 1921 until 1935. Ross Field was named for Bennett Battle Ross, Jr., an Auburn High School alumnus who was Dean of Chemistry and acting president of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (today Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
) who had worked to bring county flagship status to Auburn High in 1914. Ross Field was the first on-campus stadium for Auburn High School; previous football teams had shared Drake Field
Drake Field (stadium)
Drake Field was an American football, baseball, and track stadium on the campus of Auburn University, in Auburn, Alabama, United States. From 1911 to 1939, Drake field was the home field of the Auburn University Tigers football team...
with the Auburn University football team. From 1929 onward, the field was sometimes known as Mitchell Field.
By the mid-1930s, Ross Field had grown too small to accommodate football crowds, and Auburn High games were moved back to Drake Field. When the former high school campus was transferred to the city of Auburn as a community center in the 1950s, the field was used as a community football and baseball field, and by the 1980s was being used only as a baseball field. The Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center was built on the site of Ross Field in 1998.