Carroll Field

{{Short description|Exhibition ground in Waco, Texas}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

File:Baylor University 1892.png

{{Infobox venue

| stadium_name = Caroll Field

| image =

| caption =

| location = Waco, Texas

| coordinates = {{coord|31.546867|-97.120866|type:landmark_region:US-TX|display=inline,title}}

| broke_ground =

| opened = 1902

| renovated = 1915 (Lee Carroll Field's Athletic Building)

| expanded =

| closed = 1935

| demolished = 1939–1940

| owner = Baylor University

| operator =

| surface = grass

| architect =

| former_names =

| tenants = Baylor Bears (1902–1925, 1930–1935)

| seating_capacity = 15,000 (1930s)

}}

Carroll Field was an exhibition ground in Waco, Texas, owned by Baylor University; the Baylor Bears football program played games there from 1902 to 1925, with the exception of 1906 when football was banned on campus, and from 1930 to 1935.{{Cite web |date=2023-08-25 |title=2023 Baylor Football Media Almanac (PDF) |url=https://baylorbears.com/documents/2023/8/25/2023_Baylor_Football_Media_Almanac__0825__WEB.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207144830/https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sidearm.nextgen.sites/baylorbears.com/documents/2023/8/25/2023_Baylor_Football_Media_Almanac__0825__WEB.pdf |archive-date=2024-02-07 |access-date=2024-02-07 |website=Baylor Bears |publisher=Baylor University |page=179 (p. 182, PDF) |language=en}} Following the construction of the Carroll Science Building in 1902, the field was located between the building and Waco Creek; the field took over as the location of football games from an unnamed field adjacent to and northwest of Old Main.{{cite web |url=http://contentdm.baylor.edu/u?/07texas,2909 |title=The Baylor University Annual Published by the Senior Class of Ninety-Six at Waco, Texas |work=The Texas Collection (Baylor University) |date=1996 |accessdate=2009-12-28}} Lee Carroll made a donation for the field to be constructed, and his father and grandfather had also donated to build the Carroll Science Building and Carroll Library.{{Cite news|url=https://www.baylor.edu/giving/news.php?action=story&story=133449|title=Farewell to Floyd Casey|work=Giving to Baylor {{!}} Baylor University|access-date=2018-11-27|language=en-US}} From 1926 to 1929, Baylor football games were played at the Cotton Palace in Waco. During Baylor's first season, they were beat 33–0 by Texas A&M, but the Waco Times-Herald attempted to make the loss positive, saying, "For an eleven many of whose players did not know the shape of the oval until this season, Baylor put up a fair exhibition.”{{Cite news|url=https://www.wacotrib.com/waco_today_magazine/waco-strange-but-true-football-had-tentative-start-at-baylor/article_3faeaa36-17fc-5cdc-a4f5-b622029c3a01.html|title=Waco, Strange but True: Football had tentative start at Baylor|last=Fiedler|first=Randy|work=WacoTrib.com|access-date=2018-11-27|language=en}}

During Thanksgiving Day 1909, Carroll Field was the location of Baylor's first Homecoming football game; the 5,000 attendees to the football game paid US$1 each and, at the time, the crowd was known as the largest ever{{clarify|date=December 2011}}. In the football game, Baylor defeated Texas Christian University, who had shut out Baylor in their last two games, 6–3.{{cite web |url=http://www.baylor.edu/Lariat/news.php?action=story&story=21094 |title=1909 brought new event to campus: homecoming |publisher=The Baylor Lariat |date=2004-10-22 |author=Mendez, Elizabeth |accessdate=2009-09-20}}