Even though it was nearly a century ago, the Great Depression left an impact on the United States, and on Wilmington, that's still being felt today.
To discover that, all you need to do is take in a football game at Legion Stadium on Carolina Beach Road. That's where New Hanover High School's Wildcats have been playing home games ever since the facility was built by the federal government's Works Progress Administration, or WPA, in 1938 as part of a nationwide effort to provide jobs for millions of out-of-work people.
According to a Historic Wilmington Foundation plaque at Legion Stadium, land for the facility was donated to New Hanover County by the American Legion Post 10, which also donated $27,000 toward construction costs of $237,000.
That's
about $5.6 million in today's money.
When the land was donated, the area on Carolina Beach Road near the historic Sunset Park neighborhood had already been associated with sporting events for a couple of decades.
In 1914, a brand-new facility was constructed near present-day Legion Stadium to host an exhibition baseball game between the minor-league Baltimore Orioles squad and the world champion Philadelphia Athletics. The game ended up being a historic occasion, as it marked the first time that the great Babe Ruth would start a professional game as a pitcher. (Ruth tossed a complete game victory against the world champs.)
By the early 1940s most of the big football games in the Wilmington area were being held at Legion, which seats 6,000: 3,500 in the grandstand, plus 2,500 in the visitor's section.
There are World-War-II era photos in the collection of the Cape Fear Museum that show football teams made of up soldiers from Camp Davis in Onslow County. The players even have Camp Davis cheerleaders rooting them on.
Over the years, Legion would also host horse races, car races and religious revivals in addition to football games. By the 1970s and into the 1990s it was the home of the Azalea Festival Variety Show, hosting such acts as Minnie Pearl and a young LeAnn Rimes.
The professional soccer team Wilmington Hammerheads played at Legion between 2003 and 2016.
Numerous film and TV productions have shot there as well, starting with 1989's "Dream a Little Dream" and including "Dawson's Creek," "Eastbound and Down," "The Summer I Turned Pretty," "The Runarounds" and "George and Tammy."
Legion Stadium, which is owned by the city of Wilmington, has undergone substantial renovations over the years. Known as the Legion Sports Complex, it also includes Buck Hardee Field, home of New Hanover High baseball and the Wilmington Sharks of the Coastal Plain League, a summer baseball league for college players.
John Staton is the arts and culture reporter at the StarNews. You can reach him at jstaton@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: This Wilmington field has its roots in the Great Depression
