By Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Two years after he was appointed as the first director of athletics in Rutgers history, George Little submitted a proposal to university President Robert Clothier for the construction of intramural fields on what is now known as the Busch Campus in Piscataway.

The date was Nov. 7, 1934, and Little was looking to move Rutgers' football, baseball, lacrosse and track teams to more modernized playing fields. As part of the study, Little proposed building a football stadium on the 256-acre tract of land partly owned by the Vermeule family and by the New Brunswick Country Club.

Don't Edit

Rutgers football media guide, 1954

At the time, the Rutgers football team played its games at dilapidated Neilson Field.

"It is our expectation that this project will contribute greatly to the effectiveness of our program of physical education, which has been handicapped through inadequate playing fields,'' Clothier told reporters after the university acquired the tract of land off the Raritan River in Piscataway on Jan. 15, 1935.

Don't Edit

Nearly three years to the day that Little first proposed a new field to replace 3,500-seat Nielson Field, Rutgers opened its 23,000-seat stadium on Oct. 22, 1938.

Eighty years ago this week, the Scarlet shutout Hampden-Sydney before a crowd of 12,000 fans in its new stadium.

Don't Edit

Rutgers media guide, 1988

The stadium also featured an eight-lane running track, banked at the turns and modeled after the Olympic track at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The River Road campus complex included three practice fields -- one each for the varsity, freshmen and 150-pound squads -- four fields for intramural football games, a lacrosse field, soccer pitches, and a nine-hole golf course. The intramural fields were converted into baseball diamonds in the spring.

Rutgers played games in what university historians now call "old'' Rutgers Stadium from 1938 through 1992.

Don't Edit

39 years of Rutgers football? Why one loyal fan won't quit this team | Politi

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

A new 42,000-seat stadium was built in the early 1990s on the site of the "old'' Rutgers Stadium.

Financed by a New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority bond-issue proposal for $28 million, the expansion resulted in the addition of a pair of 5,000-seat upper decks, permanent lights, a two-tiered press box, a concourse with eight concession stands, an improved sound system and a scoreboard set in the open end of the south end zone.

Don't Edit

The Star-Ledger file photo

As part of the expansion, the track was removed and the field was shifted 25 feet to the west in order to bring fans closer to the action.

Don't Edit

The Star-Ledger file photo

Eighty years ago, the Rutgers stadium capacity was 23,000.

Today, field now called HighPoint.com Stadium has a 52,454-seat capacity.

Don't Edit

On the 80-year anniversary of the opening of the "old'' Rutgers stadium, here is everything you need to know about how it was built:

Don't Edit

Vintage Rutgers football uniforms: Look at Scarlet Knights jerseys through the decades (PHOTOS)

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Original home

Rutgers' first football home was College Field, which was the scene of the first intercollegiate game between Rutgers and Princeton on Nov. 6, 1869.

It was set where the parking lot behind the College Avenue Gymnasium in New Brunswick now sits.

Rutgers owned a 24-18-5 record at College Field from 1869-1890.

Don't Edit

Rutgers media guide

Neilson FIeld

Rutgers' second football home came courtesy of a gift from James Neilson, Class of 1866, in 1890.

Two years later, Rutgers began playing games a field named in his honor. It was located off George Street -- across the street from the College Avenue Gymnasium, where Records Hall now sits.

Rutgers owned a 127-57-13 record at Neilson Field from 1892-1938.

Don't Edit

Rutgers media guide

Rutgers officials acquired the 256 acres in what would be called the River Road Campus project on Jan. 15, 1935, at a cost of $98,390.

The price of about $400 an acre was considered to be a good bargain at the time.

"To safeguard (our) future, when we have passed on and new and younger (Rutgers officials) have taken the affairs of the University, the University has acquired this land,'' Clothier said, according to a quote in the Rutgers-Princeton 1938 Dedication Game program. "It is at one and the same time an outlet for our program of physical education, a financial investment which we expect to increase in value with the return of good times, and a pledge to that future which we can now be only dimly aware, but in which we have unwavering confidence.''

Eleven months later, the federal government approved a Works Project Administration grant of $320,000 for the development of the area. The grant provided for the excavation of the bowl as a possible stadium site and for the construction of intramural fields on the higher ground beyond the bowl.

In early 1936, more than 300 workmen shaped the bowl for the stadium, which was set on the side of a narrow ravine from which 160,000 cubic yards of earth was removed. The East and West stands of HighPoint.com Stadium today stand along the original sides of that ravine.

The largest expansion in the then-173-year history of Rutgers took nearly three years to build, as technical difficulties due to soils and shale embankments resulted in the need for more funding.

In November 1935, the university obtained a $385,537 grant. The Works Project Administration chipped in with $413,831 one year later and added another $196,335 in early 1937. A fourth grant of $38,447 was provided to build the roadways neighboring the stadium.

Don't Edit

In all, the project cost Rutgers $205,920 and the federal government $1,104,696.

The total cost for a stadium that was 50 times greater in size than Neilson Field: $1,310,616.

The construction of the stadium was considered to be an engineering masterpiece at the time.

In fact, Little presented a study that reported a new stadium like the one Rutgers had built should last about 50 years.

As it turned out, it lasted 54.

Don't Edit

The untold story of how Rutgers played its 1st intercollegiate sports event

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Rutgers media guide

First game

Rutgers dedicated its million-dollar stadium against Princeton on Nov. 5, 1938.

But the first game played in the new park was against Hampden-Sydney two weeks earlier. It was considered to be a rehearsal game for the Princeton affair, as Little and other Rutgers officials wanted to study the impact of traffic on the area for big games.

Don't Edit

The Scarlet cruised to a 32-0 triumph before a half-filled concrete bowl,

Moon Mullen, a halfback, scored two touchdowns and Art Gottlieb scored once in the whitewash.

Coach Harvey Harman's squad compiled 161 yards on the ground and 156 yards through the air as Rutgers improved to 4-1.

Don't Edit

Just the facts

In all, the Scarlet Knights played 225 games in the "old'' Rutgers Stadium, compiling a 168-53-4 record.

Rutgers boasted a winning record inside its stadium in 40 of the 54 seasons, including unbeaten marks in 1941 (6-0), 1946 (4-0), 1947 (5-0), 1950 (3-0), 1961 (4-0), 1975 (6-0), 1976 (4-0), 1977 (4-0), 1982 (2-0), 1984 (4-0), 1990 (2-0), 1991 (4-0) and 1992 (4-0).

Rutgers had losing records inside the "old'' Rutgers Stadium in only four years: 1951, 1953, 1955 and 1989.

From 1938 through 1942, Rutgers put together a 19-game unbeaten streak (including a 1939 tie with Richmond).

Between 1974 and 1978 Rutgers won 20 consecutive games inside its stadium.

Don't Edit

Great picture of old Rutgers Stadium before the '94 rebuild. Thank you, @RUNYYFan Marc! pic.twitter.com/mmXCuOiYlg — Jim Hoffman (@RURahFan) October 15, 2014

Don't Edit

Rewriting Rutgers history: Here's why RU changed the TD passing total for an all-time great quarterback

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

NJ Advance Media

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.