Qualla: Baltimore Memorial Stadium

Baltimore Memorial Stadium: Introduction

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. When Robert Frost was asked to describe what made Baltimore Memorial Stadium special, he reportedly called it the world's largest outdoor insane asylum - a place where 30,000 people screamed in unison about a game. The stadium stood on 33rd Street in north Baltimore from its 1954 reconstruction until its demolition in 2001-2002. Before the rebuild, the site was Municipal Stadium - a 1922 horseshoe-shaped football venue that became the temporary home of the minor league Baltimore Orioles in 1944 when their original Oriole Park burned down. The reconstructed version was rechristened Baltimore Memorial Stadium in honor of the city's dead from World War II. For 47 years it hosted some of the most beloved teams in American sports: the Baltimore Colts of the NFL, the Baltimore Orioles of the American League, the Baltimore Ravens for two seasons in the late 1990s, and a remarkable single Canadian Football League team that won the Grey Cup.

Image: Unknown author | Public domain

Baltimore Memorial Stadium: Municipal Stadium

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Peter Fitzgerald, OpenStreetMap, CC BY-SA 2.0. The original 1922 stadium was a Greek-revival horseshoe with an earthen-mound exterior, designed by Pleasants Pennington and Albert W. Lewis. It seated between 70,000 and 80,000 people. The open south end faced 33rd Street, framed by a colonnade and porticoes of pale stone. It ho...

Image: Peter Fitzgerald, OpenStreetMap | CC BY-SA 2.0

Baltimore Memorial Stadium: Rebuilt as Memorial

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wasted Time R at en.wikipedia, CC BY 3.0. Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. pushed through the rebuilding, framing the new stadium as a memorial to Baltimore's World War II dead. Construction began in 1949 and proceeded in stages, with the old Municipal Stadium stands slowly demolished even as the minor league Orioles and the...

Image: Wasted Time R at en.wikipedia | CC BY 3.0

Baltimore Memorial Stadium: The Glory Years

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jaymyang, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Colts of the late 1950s and 1960s, led by Johnny Unitas, became one of the most successful franchises in professional football. The 1958 NFL Championship game between the Colts and the New York Giants, sometimes called the Greatest Game Ever Played, was an overtime victory fo...

Image: Jaymyang | CC BY-SA 3.0

Baltimore Memorial Stadium: Tragedy and Departure

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Junglerot56, Public domain. On May 2, 1964, the Orioles held Safety Patrol Day, offering free admission to 20,000 Maryland schoolchildren who had served as school safety patrol officers. As the national anthem played before the game, hundreds of children crowded onto an escalator from the lower deck to the ...

Image: Junglerot56 | Public domain

Baltimore Memorial Stadium: The Memorial That Remains

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Marylandstater at en.wikipedia, Public domain. Memorial Stadium hosted the Bowie Baysox in 1993 while their permanent ballpark was being built, and the Baltimore Stallions of the CFL in 1994 and 1995 - the team that won the Grey Cup in 1995, becoming the only American franchise ever to win the Canadian championship. The Balti...

Image: Marylandstater at en.wikipedia | Public domain