Lost venues, 1950–1979
Postwar suburban stadiums, the first domes and the circular multipurpose stadiums shared by baseball and football.
259 venues
View on map →Phillips Field
Phillips Field was a 20,000-seat football stadium in Tampa, home of the University of Tampa Spartans from 1937 to 1967 and of the Cigar Bowl from 1946 to 1954. It was razed after Tampa Stadium opened.
Roosevelt Stadium
Roosevelt Stadium was a WPA-built Art Deco stadium on Jersey City's Newark Bay waterfront, where Jackie Robinson made his professional debut in 1946 and the Brooklyn Dodgers played part-time in 1956-57.
War Memorial Stadium
War Memorial Stadium, known as 'The Rockpile', was a WPA-built stadium on Buffalo's East Side. It was home to the AAFC and AFL Bills and to the Buffalo Bisons, and was demolished in 1989.
Alex Box Stadium (1938)
The original Alex Box Stadium was LSU's baseball home from 1938 to 2008, where LSU won eight College World Series titles, before a new park opened just to the south.
Hollywood Park Racetrack
A Thoroughbred track founded by Hollywood studio figures that raced in Inglewood from 1938 to 2013, hosted the first Breeders' Cup, and was razed for the district containing SoFi Stadium.
Sick's Stadium
Sick's Stadium was a Rainier Valley ballpark built by brewer Emil Sick for his PCL Rainiers in 1938 and pressed into service as the one-season major league home of the 1969 Seattle Pilots.
Gilmore Field
Gilmore Field was the Fairfax District home of the Pacific Coast League Hollywood Stars from 1939 to 1957, a small ballpark beside the Farmers Market that drew a celebrity crowd.
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, 'the Aud', stood on the waterfront from 1940 to 2009 and was home to the NHL's Sabres and the NBA's Braves. Its site is now part of the Canalside district.
Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park
Raynham-Taunton Greyhound Park in Raynham, Massachusetts, raced greyhounds from 1940 until a statewide ballot ban ended live racing in December 2009. The building remains in use for simulcast betting.
Roosevelt Raceway
Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, Long Island, began as an auto racing circuit in 1936 and became a landmark night harness track from 1940 to 1988. The site is now shopping centers, condominiums and apartments.
Rubber Bowl
The Rubber Bowl was the University of Akron's football stadium from 1940 to 2008. Condemned in 2017, it was demolished in stages from 2018 to 2023.
Golden Gate Fields
Golden Gate Fields was a Thoroughbred track on the San Francisco Bay shoreline in Albany and Berkeley, California, from 1941 to 2024. It was the last major Thoroughbred track in Northern California.
Uline Arena
Uline Arena, later the Washington Coliseum, was home to the BAA/NBA Washington Capitols and the site of the Beatles' first U.S. concert. The building survives as an REI store.
Garden State Park
A Cherry Hill track that opened in 1942, burned in 1977, was rebuilt as a lavish glass-walled plant in 1985 and closed for good in 2001, now replaced by a retail and housing town center.
Robertson Stadium
Built by the Houston school district with the WPA and opened in 1942, this stadium was home to the AFL's Houston Oilers and later the University of Houston. It was demolished in December 2012 for TDECU Stadium.
Northville Downs
Northville Downs, a harness track in Northville, Michigan, ran from 1944 until February 3, 2024, when it closed as the state's last horse racing track. The site is being redeveloped for housing and parks.
Tucson Greyhound Park
Tucson Greyhound Park in South Tucson, Arizona, raced greyhounds from 1944 until June 2016, when Arizona's ban took effect. After years of simulcast-only operation and vacancy, demolition began in 2025 for a youth soccer academy.
Maywood Park
Maywood Park was a Standardbred harness track in Melrose Park, Illinois, from 1946 to 2015. An Amazon distribution center now occupies the site.
Orange Park Kennel Club
The Orange Park Kennel Club near Jacksonville raced greyhounds from 1946 until December 2020, the last track in Northeast Florida to do so. It continues as a bestbet gaming venue.
Portland Meadows
Portland Meadows was Portland, Oregon's Thoroughbred track from 1946 until its final season in 2018-19. The main building was demolished in 2020.
Foxboro Park
Foxboro Park, opened as Bay State Raceway in 1947, was a harness (and later Thoroughbred) track in Foxborough, Massachusetts, until 1997. It was torn down for Gillette Stadium.
Islip Speedway
Islip Speedway on Long Island was a 0.2-mile oval that ran from 1947 to September 1984, the smallest track ever to host NASCAR's Grand National Series. It is credited with the first demolition derby in 1958.
Lincoln Downs / Lincoln Greyhound Park
Lincoln Downs opened as a Rhode Island horse track in 1947 and became Lincoln Greyhound Park in 1977. Live dog racing ended in August 2009, and the property is now the Bally's Twin River Lincoln casino.
Mission Stadium
Mission Stadium was the 10,000-seat home of the minor-league San Antonio Missions from 1947 to 1964; its site is now a parking lot.