Michigan Stadium Story
The first University of Michigan football game played on a home field occurred on May 12, 1883, when Michigan took on the Detroit Industrial Team in Ann Arbor. For the next 10 years, Michigan players would call two sites in Ann Arbor, as well as several fields in Detroit, home turf. The Wolverines fared well in Detroit, recording a 12-4-1 mark in games played there, but had an even better record in Ann Arbor, going 18-1 at the locations where Waterman Gym was later built and where Burns Park stands today.

Following a successful Michigan football season in 1890, the Michigan Board of Regents authorized $3,000 for the purchase of land so a permanent home football field for the Wolverines could be built. Twelve months later, the Regents voted to add $5,000 more to this allotment to improve drainage and put the field into shape. By the fall of 1893, this new facility was ready, and on Oct. 7th, Michigan played on a permanent home field site for the first time, defeating the Detroit Athletic Club, 6-0.

The new home of Michigan Football, named Regents Field, was located along South State Street, where Schembechler Hall stands today. Though Regents Field had a single wooden bleacher section that seated 400 people, many more would show up for the Michigan home games. The original seating area burned down in 1895. The following year, the Regents ordered construction of another covered stand. This stand doubled the seating capacity to 800 but still fell far short of demand. Often times, temporary seats were erected to accommodate the throngs of Wolverine faithful. Crowds of 5,000 were not uncommon in the early part of the 20th Century.

In 1902, Detroit native Dexter M. Ferry donated 21 acres of land to the University, stretching from South State Street to the railroad tracks. This donation united the land which now comprises the athletics campus of the University of Michigan. In honor of this gift, the University Regents renamed the entire complex as Ferry Field. Despite the name change, the stadium still only had room for a small number of fans. As Fielding Yost's "Point-A-Minute" teams continued to win games, Ann Arborites, Michiganders and people from around the nation came to see the "Champions of the West."

Realizing the need to accommodate more people, the Regents approved the building of a new football field. The new complex was to continue under the name Ferry Field and would be located closer to campus at the site where the Michigan outdoor track now lies. But while the name stayed the same, much else about the new field was different. Unlike the old field, which was home to the football, baseball and track teams, the grass on Ferry Field was for football use only. Michigan had built separate practice fields so that use of Ferry Field could be restricted to game days only. In addition, Ferry Field had the capacity to seat 18,000 fans. To facilitate media coverage, Ferry Field included a press box on the Hoover Street side, where the Intramural Sports Building now stands.

Ferry Field, 1910
After compiling a record of 87-2-3 at Regents Field, many wondered whether the new field could offer such great success. Michigan quickly answered that question in its new setting. On Oct. 6, 1906, Johnny Garrels scored the first touchdown en route to a 28-0 victory over Case.

As Michigan continued to win at home and fans lined up to pay $1 to see a Michigan home football game (conference rules required that students pay no more than 50 cents), Fielding Yost saw the need to increase the seating capacity of Ferry Field. In 1921, Yost's wish was granted as temporary wooden bleachers were added to both ends of the stadium to almost double capacity from 21,000 to 40,000. This substantial increase in stadium capacity was not enough and Yost soon asked the Regents for approval to build a new stadium.

The "Roaring '20s"
The "Roaring '20s" were a great time for stadium building. In the previous five years, Michigan had already played in the dedication game of the home stadiums for Vanderbilt, Ohio State, Michigan State and Illinois. In addition, conference foes Minnesota, Northwestern and Purdue had each erected new facilities.

Fielding H. Yost envisioned a stadium that would seat between 100,000 and 150,000 people for each Michigan home game. Because of the recent expansion of Ferry Field, the Regents were reticent to approve Yost's request. Once word of Yost's idea reached the public, the debate raged in the Ann Arbor community. Some contended a new stadium with twice the capacity would create no serious evils and would provide greater convenience to the students, alumni and general public. However, others believed the new stadium would injure the University academically, socially and intellectually. Furthermore, it was stated that the large stadium would inevitably increase student attention to football in conversation, publications and in attendance at practice. The increased interest would become a detriment to the community as it would overshadow academic and scholastic honors. The building of a new stadium would be a permanent and undeniable concession - set in concrete for years to come - to the notion that "college is nothing more than a Roman holiday."

• Michigan Stadium Story, part II