STADIUM HISTORY

For Salem Preservation's website www.salempreservationsociety.org or over 80 years, the WALL has been a Salem landmark. The Pershing Street segment is crumbling and needs to be rebuilt. The Ohio Street segment is in need of significant repairs.

Almost everyone who ever attended the Salem City Schools has a memory of Reilly Stadium wall. For over 80 years, they have walked atop it, met there, or waited for a ride next to it. If you ever lived in Salem, Ohio, you've probably passed through it for countless athletic and community events. Most people don't realize that the wall has deteriorated and will have to be rebuilt in the near future. The question is not IF but rather HOW and WHEN. Reilly Stadium (and its brick wall) has more than nostalgic significance. It is historically important for five reasons:

It was built as a legacy to General James William Reilly (1828-1905) lawyer, politician, and soldier. Born in Akron to Irish immigrant parents, Reilly established a successful law practice in Wellsville and was elected to represent Columbiana County in the Ohio legislature. In 1862, during the Civil War, he was made colonel of the 104th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, whose members came from Summit, Stark, Portage and Columbiana counties. One whole company of this regiment was recruited from Salem. In 1864, he was promoted to Brigadier General of the 3rd Division of the 23rd Army Corps. After the war, he returned to Wellsville and served as: attorney for the Pennsylvania Railroad; an incorporator of the Ohio Mutual Fire Insurance Co.; member of the Constitutional Congress from Columbiana County; and president of the Wellsville First National Bank. He died at age 77, a life-long bachelor with no will. The state divided his estate among the schools of Columbiana County and Salem was the first to erect a permanent memorial to his contributions.

The Reilly Stadium site was originally Pidgeon's Brickyard and Pidgeon's Pond. It later became the Independent Amusement Park, used for baseball games, circuses, carnivals, medicine shows, and Quaker football games. In 1915, the Salem Board of Education paid $5,472.69 from its portion of the Reilly estate to buy the park. In 1928 Reilly School was built and the stadium was greatly enlarged; the old wooden grandstand was torn down and concrete bleachers were built to seat 1500; and the old wire fence was replaced by a brick wall, portions of which still stand today. http://www.salemohiohistory.com/HistoryMakers/General-Reilly.aspx

On October 11, 1929, Salem attracted nationwide attention as the first Ohio high school to hold a night football game under the lights at Reilly Stadium. After the superintendent presented the idea on October 7, the School Board voted unanimously to purchase a lighting system from Giant Manufacturing Co. of N. J. at a cost of $3,100. The Salem School Athletic Association planned to pay with proceeds from remaining home games, all of which were changed from Saturday to Friday night. Three days later, poles arrived from Youngstown. Large, wide-beam reflectors with three 1,000-watt lamps per unit came in from Iowa. Fourteen floodlights mounted on 10 poles, each set 60 feet above field level, provided 75,000 candle-power supplied by a three-phase 230-volt overhead line. Gangs of linemen completed the job less than an hour before ticket booths opened at 6:45 p.m.

Anticipating the largest crowd in Salem football history, school officials had students erect temporary wooden bleachers. The principal/athletic director appointed 15 ushers to seat spectators. Two city patrolmen were assisted by special police comprised of school janitors and firefighters. Nearly 1,000 drivers parked within blocks of the stadium. Fifteen minutes before gates opened, a line extended 40 yards from the west ticket booth. People came from as far away as Steubenville and Lorain. Every town in Columbiana County and many eastern Ohio counties were represented. Reilly Stadium was transformed into a coliseum -- every space jammed with people. Bands paraded through the city in full uniform, returned to the field for pre-game concerts, and did formations between halves. Salem and Wooster High School ran a cross-country race during half-time. The pigskin was dyed white to make it stand out in contrast to drab uniforms.

Over 6,000 watched Salem High defeat Warren High 6-0. Another 2,000 watched from outside and around the stadium. The crowd continued to swell until the contest was nearly over. High school football became more thrilling, exciting and popular than ever and Salem played an important part in ushering in this new era. More details here!

John F. Kennedy delivered a campaign speech at the wall on October 9, 1960, just before his election to the Presidency. Three weeks before the Nixon Kennedy vote, the margin was razor-thin. JFK was on a whirlwind tour to garner support. Earlier in the day he made speeches in Youngstown and Warren. Unscheduled stops in Girard, Canfield, and Boardman put him more than an hour behind. A crowd of nearly 12,000 had gathered and was waiting at Reilly Stadium. The words he spoke ring true today. "Salem, Ohio, is 1,000 miles from Salem, Mass., but they are sisters under the skin. They are part of an America, and they stand in a great American tradition, which it is our responsibility in these times and in our generation to maintain... We rise or fall together." ... "You who live in Salem can make your own judgment as to whether you believe that the course of events in the world and the force and vigor of our country is moving us where it should move us or whether history will record that in the last years of the fifties the tide began to go against us, the tide began to ebb. That is the question which you have to decide. What kind of leadership do you want? ..." Speech Here!

Jesse Owens ran here. In 1936, Fred E. Cope, SHS Class of 1925, was selected as a trainer for the Olympic Team which competed in Berlin, Germany. There, his roommate was four-time gold-medalist Jesse Owens, with whom he became life-long friends. In 1941, Cope invited Owens to compete in Salem, Owens replied, "I will be in the best shape possible and will try to give the people a fine exhibition of running and jumping." Harrison Dillard, an Olympic gold medalist from Cleveland, tells of running "hurdles against Jesse Owens once in an exhibition race. It was an old High School track meet called Salem Relays. They ran 120 meters of low hurdles, which was not a standard race. "He beat me, but it was close. He didn't run away and leave me. I was just a high school kid - I don't know how hard he was trying but I had the pleasure of running against him." Read More Here!

Reilly is one of few remaining high school stadiums in a downtown area. Its detailed brick wall runs nearly a city block long. Skilled craftsmanship of this level is rarely seen today. In days gone by, small town life focused around the heart of its cities. Shopping, socializing, and community events were concentrated in downtown streets across America. As social and commercial life migrated to outlying suburban neighborhoods, cities often declined. Many landmarks were lost or demolished to make way for new construction. Modern athletic complexes were usually built near the schools that they serve and these, too, were not in cities. Reilly Stadium is unique since it has always been a stand-alone facility in the downtown district that served as the hub of athletic activity for the Salem Schools.

For all these reasons and for the many fond memories Salemites have of activities and events that have taken place there, "The General Reilly Athletic Field of the Salem Public Schools" is indeed a place that matters.