Birth of a Stadium: 1920s-1940s

By Dear Kevin Warren · 2026-01-21

Section 1: Intro — A City Dreams Big

In 1919, the Great War had just ended and Chicago was in a building mood. The city had already reversed the flow of a river and rebuilt itself after a fire that destroyed three square miles. So when the South Park Commission announced plans for a lakefront stadium, they didn't think small. They wanted the largest outdoor arena in the world.

Here's what made it different from the start: this wasn't going to be a private club or a venue owned by some team. The stadium would be a public space, built on public land, belonging to everyone who lived here. That idea—the lakefront for the people—has been fighting for survival ever since.

Section 2: Construction and Design — Carved from Indiana Limestone

Holabird & Roche drew up the plans in 1922. Their design featured 100 Doric columns—the same style the ancient Greeks used—framing both sides of the field. The firm carved them from Indiana limestone, the same stone that lined Michigan Avenue.

The stadium sat at the southern end of Grant Park, exactly where Daniel Burnham's 1909 plan said it should go. Burnham had spent years fighting to keep the lakefront open to the public. This stadium was supposed to prove him right.

When Municipal Grant Park Stadium opened on October 9, 1924, 45,000 people showed up to watch Notre Dame lose to Illinois. The stadium wouldn't be called "Soldier Field" until Armistice Day the following year, when it was rededicated as a memorial to American soldiers of all wars.

Section 3: The Spectacle Years — More Than Football

Original Soldier Field could hold 100,000 people. Modern fire codes would have a stroke, but this was the 1920s. Chicago filled those seats with boxing matches, rodeos, ski jumping, auto races—anything that might draw a crowd.

The stadium's first truly legendary event came on September 22, 1927: the Dempsey-Tunney heavyweight championship, better known as the "Long Count" fight. 104,943 fans packed the lakefront. In the seventh round, Jack Dempsey knocked Gene Tunney to the canvas. The referee started counting—then stopped. Dempsey hadn't gone to a neutral corner. By the time the count resumed, Tunney had extra seconds to recover. He got up and won by decision.

Whether you think Tunney deserved the win or got bailed out by the rules depends on which bar you're in when you bring it up. Either way, boxing never saw a bigger crowd.

Through the late 1920s and 1930s, Soldier Field hosted Army-Navy football games (attendance sometimes hit 117,000), auto races on temporary tracks, and charity matches that brought in stars from around the country. The venue had a simple philosophy: if people would show up for it, Soldier Field would host it.

Section 4: Early NFL History — The Cardinals Came First

Most Bears fans don't know this: the Bears weren't the first NFL team to play at Soldier Field. That was the Chicago Cardinals, who used the stadium for occasional games throughout the 1930s.

The Bears spent those decades at Wrigley Field. George Halas had founded the team in Decatur in 1920 and moved them to Chicago the next year. Wrigley was their home—cramped, intimate, ivy on the walls, a neighborhood feel that matched the franchise's scrappy identity.

But Soldier Field kept pulling them south for special occasions. The first College All-Star Game—NFL champs versus a team of college stars—launched at Soldier Field in 1937. That game ran until 1976, and for most of those years it was one of the biggest events on the football calendar.

Section 5: The War Years — A Stadium Serves Its Original Purpose

When World War II came, Soldier Field went back to being a memorial.

The stadium hosted military ceremonies and war bond rallies throughout the early 1940s. In 1944, the same field where Tunney had beaten Dempsey was used for military training exercises—young men drilling before shipping out to Normandy and the Pacific.

There's something fitting about that. The stadium had been named for soldiers in the first place. Now it was actually serving them.

By 1945, when the war ended, Soldier Field had been standing for two decades. It had hosted world championship fights, record-breaking football crowds, and thousands of soldiers heading off to war. The limestone columns were weathered but solid. The lakefront was still public land.

Section 6: Closing — The Foundation

By the late 1940s, Soldier Field had earned its place on the lakefront. The stadium wasn't glamorous—it was showing its age—but it had done what Chicago asked of it.

The Bears were still at Wrigley. Their permanent move to Soldier Field wouldn't happen for another two decades. When it did, the stadium's role would change again.

But the foundation was already there: a public space, on public land, built to honor sacrifice. Those limestone colonnades have stood since 1924.

They're still standing today.

Sources

- Chicago Park District Historical Archives - National Register of Historic Places documentation - Boxing records for Dempsey-Tunney bout - Chicago Tribune archives, 1919-1945 - Holabird & Roche architectural records