In 1915,
Harry "Curley" Byrd, head coach for what was then the
Maryland Agricultural football team, petitioned the school for funds for a stadium. At that time, the football team lacked any dedicated facilities and had one poorly suited athletic field on which to practice and play games. The new stadium was originally to be called the University of Maryland Athletic Field, but the student body protested for a better name. The Board of Regents voted to name the stadium after Byrd, who was a former
quarterback, the current coach, and future
university president. The stadium was built by the H. D. Watts Construction Company, which was owned by Harry Watts, an alumnus who played as a
fullback on the
football team from 1901 to 1903. Construction was completed in 1923 at a cost of $60,000. The inaugural game was played against on September 29, which Maryland won, 53–0. for the
Homecoming game against
Catholic. Maryland won that game as well, 40-6, in front of a crowd of 3,000. Between 1924 and 1947, Maryland played most home games in the facility, but for major games often traveled to
Griffith Stadium in
Washington, D.C. or
Memorial Stadium in
Baltimore, both of which were significantly larger. During the
1948 season, the Terrapins played all of their home games at
Griffith Stadium in
Washington, D.C. In 1950, the old stadium was replaced by the significantly larger
Byrd Stadium (which was renamed Maryland Stadium in 2015), and the original stadium was razed in 1953. ==References==