J. Birney Crum Stadium

Last updated
J. Birney Crum Stadium
Allentown School District Stadium
1955 - Allentown School District Stadium.jpg
J. Birney Crum Stadium, the largest high school football stadium in the Mid-Atlantic United States
J. Birney Crum Stadium
Address2027 Linden St, Allentown, Pennsylvania 18104, U.S.
Location Allentown, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 40°35′46.11″N75°30′5.67″W / 40.5961417°N 75.5015750°W / 40.5961417; -75.5015750
Owner Allentown School District
Operator Allentown School District
Construction
Opened1948
Renovated2002
Tenants
Allen, Central Catholic, and Dieruff

J. Birney Crum Stadium is a 15,000-capacity outdoor stadium in Allentown, Pennsylvania, used predominantly by three Allentown-based high school football teams. As of 2024, it is the largest high school football stadium in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.

Contents

This stadium serves as the home football field for each of Allentown's three high schools: Allen High School, Dieruff High School, and Allentown Central Catholic High School, each of which compete in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, one of the premiere high school athletic conferences in the nation.

History

A helicopter landing at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown prior to Allen High School football game on Thanksgiving Day in 1948 1948 - Helicopter Landing At ASD Stadium - Allentown PA.jpg
A helicopter landing at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown prior to Allen High School football game on Thanksgiving Day in 1948

In 1948, the stadium opened as Allentown High School Stadium and was sometimes alternately referred to as Allentown School District Stadium [1] or ASD Stadium.

In 1982, the stadium was renamed in honor of J. Birney Crum, [2] a football, basketball, and baseball at Allentown High School, [3] now Allen High School, who was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1974.

In 2002, the stadium was substantially renovated, including the installation of FieldTurf, which replaced the stadium's original natural grass surface.

J. Birney Crum Stadium is the home high school field for Allentown's three large Eastern Pennsylvania Conference high school football teams: Allen, Central Catholic, and Dieruff high schools. The stadium has been the home field for the high school careers of several players who went on to NFL careers, including Ed McCaffrey of the Denver Broncos and New York Giants, Andre Reed of the Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins and a Hall of Fame Inductee, Tony Stewart of the Philadelphia Eagles, Cincinnati Bengals and Oakland Raiders, and others.

The stadium hosts a large annual Fourth of July fireworks display that typically draws tens of thousands of spectators and is among the largest such July 4 fireworks events in the Lehigh Valley.

Crum is also marching arts performance venue. The stadium hosts the annual Drum Corps International's Eastern Classic, held the weekend prior to its world championships in Indianapolis.

This stadium also hosts the Collegiate Marching Band Festival, an annual event held in late September or early October that showcases college and university marching bands of all sizes and styles from across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. Crum also hosts USBands A Class National Championships, which features performances of high school marching bands annually in November.

The stadium is owned by the Allentown School District.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allentown, Pennsylvania</span> Home rule municipality in Pennsylvania, United States

Allentown is the county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the third-most-populous city in Pennsylvania with a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 census and the most populous city in the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the nation as of 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andre Reed</span> American football player (born 1964)

Andre Darnell Reed is an American former football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football for the Kutztown Golden Bears and was selected by the Bills in the fourth round of the 1985 NFL draft with the 86th overall selection. Following 15 seasons with the Bills, where he earned Pro Bowl honors seven times, Reed spent his final season as a member of the Washington Redskins in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Allen High School</span> Public high school in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States

William Allen High School, often referred to as Allen High School or simply Allen, is one of two large, urban public high schools of the Allentown School District in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The school provides public education for grades 9 through 12. William Allen High School is located at 106 N. 17th Street in Allentown. It serves students from center city and the city's westside. The city's other public high school, Dieruff High School, serves students from Allentown's eastern and southern sections. Until Dieruff's opening in 1959, William Allen High School was known as Allentown High School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberty High School (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)</span> Public high school in Bethlehem, Northampton and Lehigh, Pennsylvania, United States

Liberty High School is a large urban, public high school located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Liberty is the larger of two public high schools in the Bethlehem Area School District; Freedom High School is the other. Liberty's current attendance area includes students from Bethlehem, Fountain Hill, Freemansburg, and Hanover Township. As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,702 students, according to National Center for Education Statistics data.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Easton Area High School</span> Public high school in Easton, Pennsylvania, United States

Easton Area High School is a large four-year public high school located in Easton, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley area of eastern Pennsylvania. It is part of the Easton Area School District.

During Labor Day Weekend, Drum Corps Associates (DCA) Open Class corps compete to earn the title of DCA Open Class World Champion. The championships consist of 2 rounds held on 2 consecutive nights. All corps compete at Prelims, with the top 10 Open Class and top 4 Class A corps competing at Finals. The champion is determined by the overall high score in the Finals competition. There are also a number of caption awards, though the process of determination for those awards has changed from year to year.

Louis E. Dieruff High School, typically referred to as Dieruff High School, is a large, urban public high school in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is located at 815 North Irving Street in Allentown. The school serves students in grades nine through 12 from the eastern and southern parts of the city and is part of the Allentown School District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allentown Central Catholic High School</span> Private, coeducational school in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States

Allentown Central Catholic High School (ACCHS), often referred to as Central Catholic or Central, is a private, parochial school located at 301 N. 4th Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The school is managed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown, and predominantly serves students from the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Stoners</span> Former association football team

The Pennsylvania Stoners were an American soccer team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2007, the team played in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), a national amateur league at the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Eastern Keystone Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School</span> Public school in Pennsylvania, United States

Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School is a secondary school located on 500 South Broad Street in the borough of Mechanicsburg, west of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The school is part of the Mechanicsburg Area School District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coca-Cola Park</span> Baseball Park in Pennsylvania, United States

Coca-Cola Park is an 8,278-seat baseball park in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is the home field for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A level Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Wilson High School is a public high school located in West Lawn, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the only high school in the Wilson School District.

The Lehigh Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference, known informally as the Lehigh Valley Conference or LVC, was an athletic conference consisting of 12 of the largest high schools from Lehigh and Northampton counties in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. It was part of District XI of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA). In 2014, its teams were mostly assimilated into the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, an even larger 18-team league of the largest high schools in the Lehigh Valley and Pocono Mountains regions of eastern and northeastern Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northampton Laurels</span> Soccer club

The Northampton Laurels FC was an American professional soccer team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2005, the team played in Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL). The team folded after the 2008 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allentown School District</span> School district in Pennsylvania

The Allentown School District is a large, urban public school district located in Allentown, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The district is the fourth-largest school district in Pennsylvania as of the 2016-17 school year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of baseball in Allentown, Pennsylvania</span>

The history of professional baseball in Allentown, Pennsylvania dates back 138 years, starting with the formation of the Allentown Dukes in 1884 and continuing through the present with its hosting of the Allentown-based Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A Minor League affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball, who play at Coca-Cola Park on the city's East Side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports in Allentown, Pennsylvania</span> Overview of sports activities in Allentown, Pennsylvania

Sports in Allentown, Pennsylvania has a rich tradition at all levels, including professional sports, the Olympics, and high school levels. While most Allentown residents support professional sports teams in New York City or Philadelphia, Allentown itself also is home to two major professional sports teams, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple A team of the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball, and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League, the primary development team of the Philadelphia Flyers.

District 11 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) is an interscholastic athletic association in eastern Pennsylvania.

The Mountain Valley Conference(MVC) was an athletic conference consisting of six large high schools and four school districts from Monroe County and the Lehighton Area School District from Carbon County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It was part of District XI of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA). In 2014, its teams were mostly assimilated into the 18-team league of large eastern and northeastern Pennsylvania high schools known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Pennsylvania Conference</span> High school sports conference

The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, known informally as EPC, EPC18, and East Penn Conference, is an athletic conference consisting of 18 large high schools from Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, and Pike counties in the Lehigh Valley and Pocono Mountain regions of eastern and northeastern Pennsylvania. The conference is a part of District XI of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA).

References

  1. Smith, Gordon. "Stoners go after ASL championship", Allentown Morning Call, September 18, 1980.
  2. Gildner, Kevin S. (2006). Allentown. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN   9781439617786 . Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  3. Burian, Evan (2001). Football Legends of Pennsylvania. Evan Burian. ISBN   9780971342507 . Retrieved 4 September 2017.