By Anne Levin

Princeton University hired celebrated architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh to design its football stadium just over a century ago. During the process, a decision was made to build it out of reinforced concrete instead of costlier masonry. The result was horse shoe shaped Palmer Stadium, which seated 45,725 and had an end zone with an unobstructed view of Carnegie Lake. A mix of Collegiate Gothic ornamentation with a classical Greek plan, it cost $300,000 to build and was completed almost a full month ahead of schedule—well in time for the Tigers to defeat Dartmouth 16-12 in the first official game at the venue on October 24, 1914. more