Explore the past century of Wolfpack football facilities - the playing fields may have changed, but the passion's remained the same.
The Leader of the Pack Program honors two students who make outstanding contributions to NC State in the areas of leadership, scholarship and community service.
NC State offers its students myriad opportunities to serve others and address social justice issues on a local, national or global level.
The Black Alumni Society celebrates history and contributions of African-American students at NC State University.
Come "home" to NC State for a weekend of exciting events. From the Hillsborough St. parade to Saturday’s matchup with Maryland, there’s plenty to do on and off the field.Maintaining A Sense of Place & History:
Our facilities may have changed over the years, but our passion for Wolfpack football remains as strong as it's ever been.
Introduction
At NC State, our Homecoming celebration goes beyond 60 minutes of football action – it's a weeklong series of traditions and community events that capture the things our students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends hold dear. Today, we're going to take a look at the past century of Wolfpack football facilities – from the open fields and farm tracts of yesteryear to the newly remade Carter-Finley Stadium.
Before we dive into the storied history of our football facilities, we invite you to take a look back at NC State's campus and many of our signature events. From the Court of North Carolina and Riddick Stadium to a jam-packed Carter-Finley, it's all here in this video retrospective. It's the first of many tastes we'll be sampling this week, as we share what Homecoming means to those of us who bleed "Wolfpack Red."
Open in Youtube | Circa 1950s Alma Mater (and other NC State Spirit songs)
Part 1 - Home of the Wolfpack
For so many years, NC State football fans waited for the perfect home.
From 1891 until 1907, in the nascent school's first teams played on the open fields that surrounded campus, either at Pullen Park, at the old North Carolina State Fairgrounds or on the farm tracts on the "other" side of the railroad tracks.
From 1916-39, Wolfpack fans waited for its first home – on-campus Riddick Stadium – to be completed in piecemeal fashion. For nearly a decade, the graduating senior class would raise money as its parting gift to the school the funds to build a new section to the concrete grandstands.
In the three decades that followed, the football team was barely around. The team never played more than four home games at its crumbling stadium, as it traveled the country to play opponents that would pay hefty guarantees that helped keep the athletics department sketchy budget solvent.
In the fall of 1966, gleaming new Carter Stadium opened on a 75-acre tract of land adjacent to the North Carolina State Fairgrounds, where it stood practically untouched for 35 years, even though there had been plans for some 15 years to make improvements and upgrades.
After a $100 million makeover over the last eight years that enclosed both end zones, added the Murphy Center and Vaughn Towers and put amenities that allowed the team to play in front of a rollicking crowd of nearly 57,000 spectators, Carter-Finley is finally the home the Wolfpack always wished for.
