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One of the most unique high school football stadiums in
the U.S.
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Seats over 15,000 fans
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Built in 1962 by Athletic Boosters and the Granite Industry
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Made up of over 100,000 tons of Elberton granite
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Credit given to Ben Sutton, former City of Elberton Parks
Director
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Boosters led by Horace Harper and his brother Tommy.
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Stadium made a reality by enlisting equipment, materials,
money and sweat
At that time, the Blue Devils home field was
on North McIntosh Street at the site of the present-day Senior League Field.
Atkinson reported that the field was a horrible place to play.
“You talk about a dust bowl,” he said of
the field. The dust was just one of the problems, Atkinson stated that
lightning was not good on the field and the surface became a quagmire after
it rained. The seats were there on a temporary basis, also.
In fact, the high school had a long history
of having to play on inferior surfaces. Atkinson reported that when he
played for the Devils in the late ‘30s and early ‘40s, the team played
on a 90 yard field in front of the rock gym. At that time, when a player
was tackled on the goal line, an official moved the ball back 10 yards
and the team had to cover that distance again.
Local real estate salesman Ben Sutton saw
the two problems and decided to solve both. He came up with the idea of
cleaning out the gully and putting in a football stadium.
“It wasn't a pretty field,” Atkinson stated,
reporting that grass was spotty and rocks were scattered.
In addition, there was no seating on the
visitors’ side of the field, only a huge wall built would keep dirt from
falling on the playing surface.
The seats on the home side were located
between the 30 yard lines and were only about six rows deep.
One of the most anxiously awaited
events in local sports history is installation of the new scoreboard in
the Granite Bowl! It was formerly in Sanford Stadium at The University
of Georgia until a new scoreboard was erected when the stadium was enclosed.
Elberton Crane & Rigging owned by Jack Stovall, contracted to take
down the old scoreboard and install the new one. Mr. Stovall asked booster
Horace Harper if anyone could take the old scoreboard and save transporting
it to North Caroline where Data Signs Systems was to use it for scrap.
Horace contacted Coach McFerrin who arranged with Data Systems for the
scoreboard to used by ECCHS.
However, problems arose almost immediately.
A cutting torch ignited bird nests inside the structure, damaging wiring.
Rains delayed the pouring of 30 yards of concrete footings to support the
15 ton board which measures 36 x 22 ft. A week long power outage at the
ECCHS welding shop delayed the welding of huge I-beams donated by Whitlow
Electric to mount the board. Then, football camp opened, diverting Coach
McFerrin.
On the plus side, work is expected to proceed
as quickly as possible...weather permitting, and... Coach McFerrin has
praised the assistance from local citizens. "I can't say enough about the
contributions of Horace Harper, Jack Stovall, Kenneth Whitlow of Whitlow
Electric, and Larry Brady and his JTPA boys who did a lot of work. Jack
and Ken really advise on wiring. "Anything will help," said McFerrin. "We
don't have any money left in the budget since we spent $11,200 for new
lighting and wiring in the Granite Bowl.
Despite those hardships, neither players nor
spectators were complaining.
“We were proud to be there. We thought
we were big time, anyway,” Atkinson remarked Shelvyn Gunter, a starting
offensive and defensive lineman on the 54’ squad, remembers a lot of noise
and what seemed like a large group of spectators.
“We are very excited,” he said.
Starting quarterback Larry Wilson had to
get over the sight of the new field.
“I was in awe of the stadium. The stadium
was huge,” he stated.
The first Blue Devil team to play in the
Granite Bowl lost the first game to Morgan County by a score of 7-0, but
that small set-back did not discourage the Devil faithful. Gate receipts
totaled $900 for the game.
Further construction on the Bowl progressed
slowly until 1958.
“It was kind of a piecemeal thing,” Atkinson
remarked.
In ’58, a group of boosters made a final
push to finish the job. Local granite companies donated rock and heavy
equipment to the project and workers volunteered at night.
Horace Harper and his brother, Tommy, were
two of the workers on the project.
Harper said that because of the steep banking
at the Bowl, heavy equipment was needed, but even with that, there were
still problems to overcome.
“We had a lot of trouble with tracks coming
off of the bulldozer,’ he reported.
The only expense in the new stadium came
with materials for the press box and concrete. Everything else was volunteered
or provided free-of-charge.
“I admire those people. There was a lot
of hard work put into that place,” Gunter said. “It was unheard of
to get the community together like that,” Wilson stated. “No one person
can take credit for it.”
The structure was formally dedicated before the 1961
season. Dedicated with the stadium was a monument to the group of boosters
that finished Sutton’s idea. Listed on the marker are:
Dr. R.M. Bretches
Dr. Jack Adams
Glenn Ayers
Wallace Edwards
George Gaines
William F. Grant
Horace Harper |
John L. Herndon
Clyde Hewell
Marvin L. Hooks
Allan McGarity
William A. Stafford
Charles Yeargin |
The impact of the Granite Bowl has gone farther than just
providing the Devils with a very decided home field advantage.
“It’s like Stone Mountain to Atlanta,”
Wilson said.
“No one then, a very few now have anything
to compare it with,” Gunter remarked.
Harper said that the stadium gives a sense
of pride to the community, especially to children. “Wanting to see something
better for your children” is why Harper said the volunteers gave all of
their time and equipment to the project.
Of course, many changes have taken place
in the Bowl since then, but the pride and uniqueness of the structure has
never worn out. It has been awe inspiring for both Elbert Countians and
visitors.
Gunter summed up the Granite Bowl mystique
by saying, “A lot of people just enjoy coming there to play.”
**Special thanks goes to the Elberton
Granite Association for photos and information. |
