Kansas State Wildcats Football - Home Fields

Home Fields

Kansas State's first official playing field was an open public square in Manhattan located at Bluemont Avenue and 8th Street, which it began using in 1897. The square hosted Kansas State baseball games and track meets in addition to football contests. The first improvements built at this site were a wooden fence around the square and a wooden covered grandstand, erected in 1901. A new grandstand was built in 1906, along with a small locker room. Seats for football games in the new grandstand were reserved with a charge of $1.00 for the season, plus the admission fee for each game. Construction of Bluemont Elementary School on that plot of land forced Kansas State to move its athletics on campus beginning in 1911.

The on-campus football field was located at the southwest corner of the campus, and was named Ahearn Field in honor of former coach Mike Ahearn, who had led the football team to a 10-1 record in its last season at the prior field. The covered wooden grandstand and locker room from the old field were moved and used at Ahearn Field.

In 1922, Kansas State opened the first section of Memorial Stadium on the location of Ahearn Field, at a cost of $500,000 USD. The stadium's name was a tribute to Kansas State students who died in World War I. It had a seating capacity of 17,500 when completed, although attendance sometimes exceeded 20,000. By 1967, the school's allegiance outgrew the old stadium, and the team moved to KSU Stadium in 1968.