University Grounds - Greenville, SC

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University Grounds is a largely-retrospective name applied to Furman's home athletic field during their team's earliest years, about 1890-1906, and once again in 1918. Furman eventually began to host athletics at local venues (first League Park, then Augusta Street Park, and finally Riverside Park) before opening Manly Field in 1919.

Overall, NC State had a record of 0-0-1 at this field, tying the lone game they played.

Date Opponent Time Ranking Result Attendance Length Comments
10/6/1902 at Furman * - T, 0 - 0 40 min.

  * Non-conference games

Furman holds an important place in the annals of the Palmetto State's football history, having been one of the participants in the state's first college football games, held in December 1889 and January 1890 against Wofford. Though the Mountaineers, as they were then known, likely practiced somewhere on their own campus, details are scarce. Reflecting on his time as manager of the football team from 1895-1896, alumnus James A. Hoyt recalled that "material was very scarce; there was no football field to speak of... no proper playing field."

Hoyt is correct in saying there was not a "proper" playing field -- a 1903 report indicated the field had no fence, no grandstand, was difficult to access, and was "encumbered with several trees." But games were held on campus; the earliest date I have found was for the 1901 Thanksgiving game between Wofford and Furman, which local papers noted was to be held "on the Furman campus" or "on Furman University Grounds" [1].

Though disparate from the University Grounds, it's worth covering League Park briefly. Unfortunately, there's a gap in digital newspaper coverage of Greenville from 1905-1910, so the exact development of the grounds is somewhat unclear, but starting around 1907, the university developed Furman Baseball Park, along Arlington Ave and Memminger St. That year coincides with the first season of play of the Spinners, Greenville's local baseball club. The Spinners rented the grounds from Furman, leading to the venue to also be called League Park. The grounds were also fit up with a running track, allowing the grounds to play host to an annual high school track meet which proved quite popular. This continued until 1915, when the grounds were purchased by Henry T. Mills, who parceled the field up and divided it into several tracts of land [2].

After having been used by Greenville-area athletics for about a decade, their sale was impactful: it meant Furman's athletics had to move, as did the Spinners. It was briefly assumed the Mountaineers would return to their campus digs (after all, funding for Manly Field had begun as early as 1915), but instead, they moved first to Augusta Street Park (1915-1917), and then the new Riverside Park (1917), neither of which NC State's football team visited. In 1918, though, the Baptists returned back to campus due to the unpopularity of Riverside Park, which was mired by locomotive fumes thanks to its location near the railway yard [3]

Period reports are not entirely clear on where the 1918 grounds were. Preliminary searches indicated that "old diamond at the campus" could be fixed up for a small sum; presumably, this is the same location as the old grounds, but it was not stated as definitively. Further validating this point is a scathing editorial printed in Furman Hornet complaining of the much-delayed Manly Field project, which opined that:

The old field in question is full of small ditches and washes, and is bordered on all sides by great oak trees, the roots of which grow above the ground in many places, making the playing of baseball and football very difficult and causing many bruises and sprains to the players. The old field is very small, being cooped in on three sides by the city streets and on the other by the buildings of the University. The old field is not surrounded by a fence and when games are played many persons see them without paying the regular admission.

This tirade likely refers to the same trees hemming in the field that the columnist complained of in 1903. Additional faults to the revived home grounds included the continued lack of most permanent seating (benches were reportedly built for female spectators) and the presence of a non-negligable incline on the baseball diamond's left field side. Despite (or perhaps thanks to) these shortcomings, the field was pressed into service in short order: the team went from having "no field" in late January 1918 to being game-ready in mid-March. The field was used through the 1919 baseball season, after which it was replaced by Manly Field [4].

So where was this field, then? Though I've been unable to locate the field on a period map, we have a few context clues. The Hornet author's rant hinted that it was an on-campus space closely hemmed in by roadways, and mentions it was developed with the original campus back in 1852. And though no period descriptions (from either its initial usage or the 1918 revival) have been found, three articles from 1919 and 1920 note it was "in front of the library" and faced by Montague Hall. That puts the field on the western part of campus, along Howe Street. Whether the grounds were north or south of Elkin Choice Avenue (modern-day Bradshaw Street) has been determined based on the available images, which largely show the Main Building in the somewhat near background. The location was slated for beautification and planted with grass in early 1920. Aerial images make clear the grounds were used either for intramural or practice athletics through at least the late 1960s [5].

Following a boom in enrollment in the wake of World War II, Furman began looking to expand. In 1955, they opened a third campus (the Women's Campus rounded out the bunch) north of Greenville, holding some classes that fall while continuing to support the older campuses. The Paladins finally consolidated the university into a single campus in 1961 and decided to lease the old grounds to help pay off the construction debts. The southern portion of the men's campus was developed in the early 1960s, but it took until late 1968 for construction to start on the land of the former athletic field. Work on the Bell Tower Shopping Center began in 1968, and the center's first shop opened in 1970.

By 1984, most business had left the development as interest in the mall waned; 3 years later, the buildings were converted to most of Greenville's county government offices in the space, which was re-branded as "County Square." The old mall buildings were torn down in late 2023 / early 2024 after a new building (also called County Square) was built on the east end of the property; while development is ongoing at the time of this writing, the plan is to build up the area with several retail, restaurant, office, and mixed-use spaces [6] [7].

A map of Furman's campus in 1920. The assumed location of University Grounds is about where the number "2" is shown. Montague Hall, which featured prominently in locational descriptors of the field (but not extant images) can be seen to the south [8]

Approximate location of University Grounds on a modern map of Greenville.


Pictures of University Grounds




First, a labeled aerial view of campus from 1925, and second, a similar but undated aerial view showing the same area, circa late 1940s; note presence of North Hall to the upper left (behind the Science Hall) and the more highly developed suburban area to the upper right of the image [7]




The only definitive images I've found of sports on campus grounds before World War I. The first two images appear to show a foot race, from the 1912 yearbook, while the third shows baseball action in 1914. The old campus's Main Building (also known as Richard Furman Hall) can be seen in the background of the first two images: in the center of the first image, and to the left in the second. The Library can be seen to the right in the second image. The James C. Furman Hall of Science can be seen in the background of the third image. The fourth image shows the field without any action in 1913; the Main Building is on the right and the Hall of Science on the left [9]





These five images are of the second iteration of University Grounds; the first three show the football, track, and baseball teams respectively in 1918 and 1919. The final two images are of baseball action [10]

The only definitive image of football action I've found on University Grounds. It is currently mis-attributed as Manly Field c. 1919 on Furman's archives, but note the similarity of the shot to others presented above. The uniforms don't match those of the 1918 team, so it could be in use as a practice field later on [11]

Though not (definitively) an image showing athletics, this is the earliest image of the grounds I've found, and among of the best [12]


First is an image of the mall's namesake bell tower poking out above the carnage in 1961. The tower was kept for posterity, though it was damaged by a fire in 1964. When the university tried to relocate what was left, the remainder collapsed. Second is an aerial view of the Bell Tower Shopping Center. The old athletic grounds are at just south of the upper left part of the building. The road running left from left-middle to lower right is University Ridge, the eastern portion of old Elkin Choice Road [13]

An image of the University Grounds area in May 2025 showing the construction and demolition of the old Bell Tower Mall building. Taken from the roundabout at the northwest corner of the site, this image is facing largely south. The grounds were generally towards the right side of the photo, roughly past the dirt ridge [14]


Last updated: 6/6/2025