Kezar Stadium
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Kezar Stadium is the name of a sports stadium in San Francisco, California. It was the first home of the San Francisco 49ers, initially in the AAFC and then in the NFL.
The stadium was built between 1922 and 1925 in the southeast corner of Golden Gate Park. It was named for Mary Kezar (pronounced KEE-zahr), who had left a large endowment for its construction to honor her mother and some uncles who had been prominent citizens of San Francisco.
Kezar's first tenants were local schools: the now-closed San Francisco Polytechnic High School, University of San Francisco, Santa Clara University, and St. Mary's College all used Kezar Stadium as their home field for football games. The stadium also was home to the East-West Shrine Game.
The 49ers occupied the stadium from their founding in 1946 until after the 1970 season, when they moved to Candlestick Park. The Oakland Raiders also played their 1960 American Football League season at Kezar.
The old, 59,000 seat stadium was demolished in 1989, and replaced with a modern, 10,000 seat stadium. Presently, the stadium is mostly used for high school football games, and is the home of the annual San Francisco City Championship Game (known informally as "The Turkey Bowl").
In 2004, Kezar became home to the San Francisco Freedom, a professional cricket team within the newly formed U.S.-wide Pro Cricket league.
The original facility can be seen in the 1971 film Dirty Harry.
External links
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- History and Photos (http://football.ballparks.com/NFL/SanFrancisco49ers/oldindex.htm)