Jelsma Field - Guthrie, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 52.616 W 097° 25.484
14S E 642200 N 3971444
This football field was spectacular in its beginnings as it is today. It is the home of the Guthrie High School Bluejays.
Waymark Code: WMFCCY
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 09/27/2012
Views: 7
Jelsma Field and City Stadium, Harrison Avenue and E. Springer Street is the largest municipal athletic field and stadium in the state. The grounds cover an area of four hundred by seven hundred feet, and the stadium seats five thousand. "A Guide to the Sooner State, 1941
Jelsma Stadium was a WPA project, completed in 1936 at a cost of $48,500. It was only five years old when the WPA Guide was published in 1941. The outstanding feature of this stadium is the 30-foot high native sandstone wall on the north side of the stadium, giving the stadium its nickname, "The Rock". From outside the stadium, the rock wall is seen, as it extends about eight feet above the sidewalk next to the ticket booths. To appreciate this wall, it needs to be seen from inside the stadium during a game. Reading several sports blogs, game visitors talk of the exciting, extra-loud crowd noise at the Guthrie games, due to the noise bouncing back from this high wall.
In 2005, extensive renovation was conducted on the stadium to the tune of $3,000,000. The ticket booth area, although still native sandstone, appears to be part of this later renovation. Several websites indicated that the stadium was on the National Register of Historic Places, but we were unable to confirm this. The Logan County Historical Society presented the stadium with their Foucart Award recognizing a standard of excellence in restoration and/or preservation of historic properties.
This stadium was listed as No. 13 on the Best High School Stadiums in the Nation, by ESPN, in 2008. It was the only Oklahoma stadium listed. The field is laid out north-south, with a full set of stadium seats on either side. The scoreboard is on the north in front of the wall, and the announcer's booth is located on the west side.