The Parade Ground of Virginia Military Institute was used for athletic contests by the Cadets from about 1866 to 1921; it was their first home field, and was replaced by Foster Stadium in 1921.

Overall, NC State has a record of 3-3 at this field, with no conference match-ups.

  * Non-conference games

The Virginia Military Institute has its origins in the aftermath of the War of 1812. Following the war, Virginia state legislature established three arsenals to store left over munitions, one of which was constructed in Lexington, Virginia. In 1816, the original arsenal was constructed in the same location as the current barracks located along Letcher Avenue -- in fact, the arsenal stood exactly in the center of the present quadrangle formed by Old Barracks. The original arsenal was largely manned by enlisted soldiers of the state militia. As recounted in a historical sketch presented by Col. J. T. L. Preston, a professor emeritus at VMI, in 1889: "The discipline [at the arsenal] was strict, but could not prevent them from making use of their leisure in ways that made them a very undesirable element in the population of a small town." As such, local forces began motivating for the conversion of the arsenal to a military school, styled after West Point.

In 1836, Virginia legislature proposed the creation of a military school in Lexington. Originally, the intent was for the school to be tied to Washington College (now Washington & Lee), another institute of higher education in Lexington, but this was rightfully rebuffed on the grounds that the institution was private. After some years of political back and forth, the Institute finally opened in 1839. Upon its formal establishment, a lot west of the arsenal which had been used for corn cultivation was purchased for use as a parade ground, the original property lines being too small to provide for drill practice [1]:(vol. I, pp. 6-7, 25-27, 70; vol. IV, pp. 331-332) [2]:(11-13).

The 6.75 acre parcel of land containing the parade ground doubled the size of VMI's campus; the parade ground portion comprised roughly 2 of those acres. In December 1840, the parade ground was further enlarged by the purchase of another 5 acres, about half of which contributed to the parade grounds. They were further enlarged to their present size by additional purchases in February 1849, July 1852, and July 1862. A final sliver of land which covered the westernmost portion of the grounds was added in 1908. Despite the additions of land, the grounds themselves were enlarged independently, with much of the expansion coming in 1913 [1]:(vol. IV, pp. 338-340, 318, vol. I, p. 49).

The school's parade grounds have remained in the same general location ever since first opening despite expansions, grading work, and other improvements. They even remained in the identical location after the immolation of the Institute by General David Hunter's Federal troops during the Civil War, thanks in part to the fact that the barracks (built 1850 in the same location as the original wood barracks) partially survived the attack. Besides the barracks, of which there have been serveral, the easiest way to identify the parade grounds for a century was "The Guard Tree," an old hickory tree which bounded by the southwestern edge of the original parade ground. It was so named for being the sole provider of shade on the grounds when troops had to regularly guard the arsenal prior to 1864.

The original barracks which had served the arsenal were torn down in 1850 and replaced by a castellated stone building which first housed students in the fall of 1851. The southern portion of the current Old Barracks, it was added to gradually, with the west wing being built in incriments until completion in 1859 and construction starting on the east wing in 1861 before being halted by the Civil War; it was not finished until 1866, when the former portions were rebuit. (In the meantime, cadets lived in a series of four cabins built on the southwest side of the grounds, near the present location of Maury-Brooke Hall). The original quadrangle was completed in 1900, and remains in use to this day, largely unchanged, minus the short-lived update to the barracks' parade-side facade from 1896-1915 [3]:(pp. 19, 26) [4].

The barracks were not the only portion of campus receiving an upgrade in 1850: the parade ground was being extended and leveled. It was initially hoped that stone from the parade ground could be used in the construction of the new barracks, but they were unfortunately found to be unsuitable for the job. Over two feet of elevation were removed from the parade ground's apex; it was not completed until the following spring. With the expansion, the grounds covered about 5 acres, though they remained "very unlevel" through the 1890s [1]:(vol. I, pp. 224-225, 231, vol. IV, p. 26).

Athletics first broke through the military uses of the parade ground in Fall 1866 in the form of baseball. In a widely-repeated story, Samuel Taylor, a cadet in the class of 1870, learned the sport by playing in Richmond over the summer and brought a rules book back with him. One afternoon, he called his roommate, Hugh W. Fry (class of 1867) out to the parade ground to toss the ball with him; befuddled, Fry caught the ball, and then asked what it was. From there, a nascent baseball team organized out of a handful of other men with playing experience. Besides practices, some games were played on Institute grounds; the earliest game I've found that was specifically held on the grounds (with the caveat that no local papers are currently digitized) was on April 20th, 1867, when the Cadets defeated the "Beechenbrook" nine 34-19. Fry recalled winning twenty matches, tying twice, and losing once in that innaugural season [1]:(vol. III, p. 141) [5].

A form of a rugby was the next sport brought on campus, played intramurally beginning in the 1880s, though the sport is said to have been more akin to soccer. Football got its start in 1890 under the leadership of Walter H. Taylor III (class of 1892), who had learned the game while summering in Pennsylvania from Princeton students. Intra-squad games were organized for the first year, but in 1891 matches against Washington & Lee, St. Johns (of Maryland), and Pantops Academy were organized, all of which took place in Lexington; unfortunately, it was not recorded where in Lexington the games were played [1]:(vol. IV, p. 309) [6]:(10).

This was the beginning of intercollegiate football at VMI. It's not clear which portion of the grounds match games were played on in those early years, if a consistent spot was used at all. This remained the case until 1913, when the grounds were regraded. Upon the completion of work, the athletic portion of the field was moved to a new spot so that home base was located in the northwest corner of the parade ground, near the present location of Third Barracks (formerly the location of Lejeune Hall). They were regraded again in 1915; despite the work in previous improvements, nearly 16 feet of dirt was removed from portions of the grounds. According to William Couper, "The old football field was far from level and the ground there was hard. The new field was level but was not well turfed. This resulted in numerous injuries and led to the construction of yet another field in 1923" [1]:(vol. IV, pp. 132, 27) [6]:(29).

The final major improvement to the parade grounds as far as major college athletics are concerned was the proposal to build a cinder track in 1916 as interest in track and field sports surged; despite optimism around its construction, so far as I can find it was only ever a dirt loop which encircled the football field. This was possibly because their original gym building, Jackson Memorial Hall, was completed around this time, and was outfitted with an indoor track. Unfortunately, information on early athletic records is generally difficult to come by since a large cache of early records and photographs were destroyed following World War II [6]:(34) [7] [3]:(436).

As VMI's athletic prominence rose, as did the need for a larger and more permanent field for athletics. In 1921, Alumni Field (now Foster Stadium) was opened; football, baseball, and track followed suit after one final season of temporary baseball facilities on the Parade Ground. Minor sports, as well as intracollegiate games, largely remained on the parade grounds, including sports such as polo. The grounds remained home for intercollegiate action in some sports, including lacrosse, through the late 1980s, and continued to host practices through at least 2010 [8]. It's not presently clear if any formal match games or practices persist on the grounds.

Pictures of Parade Ground