Granite Bowl
Encyclopedia
The Granite Bowl is the off-campus playing venue for the football and soccer sports teams for the Elbert County
Blue Devils in Elberton, Georgia
in the United States
. It is located between College Avenue and West Church Street and is near the city of Elberton's downtown square. The stadium can hold up to 15,000 people and is made almost entirely out of granite. The Granite Bowl has been listed as an important historic site by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation
and is considered by many to be the jewel of Elbert County.
.The only expense in the new stadium came with materials for the press box and concrete. Everything else was volunteered or provided free-of-charge by local businesses. In 1995, the Blue Devils won their one and only football state championship in the Class AA against Washington-Wilkes of Wilkes County, GA. The Blue Devils won the game 27-0 at Washington-Wilkes. In 2003, the stadium celebrated its 50th season since opening in 1952.
used in Sanford Stadium
. It was the scoreboard that was used before the stadium was enclosed and renovated. This scoreboard is also the same one that was used during Georgia's 1980 national championship season.
., where legend has it that it was taken from an Indian battlefield.
Elbert County, Georgia
Elbert County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It was established on December 10, 1790 and was named for Samuel Elbert. As of 2000, the population was 20,511. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 20,525...
Blue Devils in Elberton, Georgia
Elberton, Georgia
Elberton is the largest city in Elbert County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,743 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Elbert County and serves as a hub for industry and small business in Northeast Georgia...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is located between College Avenue and West Church Street and is near the city of Elberton's downtown square. The stadium can hold up to 15,000 people and is made almost entirely out of granite. The Granite Bowl has been listed as an important historic site by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation
Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation
The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation is the country's largest statewide, nonprofit preservation organization with more than 8,000 members...
and is considered by many to be the jewel of Elbert County.
History
Originally, the site of the Granite Bowl was used as a town dump. It was built in 1952 by Athletic Boosters and many of the businesses involved in Elberton's Granite Industry. The stadium was named the Granite Bowl for being made out of over 100,000 tons of blue graniteGranite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
.The only expense in the new stadium came with materials for the press box and concrete. Everything else was volunteered or provided free-of-charge by local businesses. In 1995, the Blue Devils won their one and only football state championship in the Class AA against Washington-Wilkes of Wilkes County, GA. The Blue Devils won the game 27-0 at Washington-Wilkes. In 2003, the stadium celebrated its 50th season since opening in 1952.
The Scoreboard
The Granite bowl's score board is the same scoreboard that the University of GeorgiaUniversity of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
used in Sanford Stadium
Sanford Stadium
Sanford Stadium is the on-campus playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States. The 92,746-seat stadium is the seventh largest stadium in the NCAA. Architecturally, the stadium is known for the fact that its numerous expansions over the years have been...
. It was the scoreboard that was used before the stadium was enclosed and renovated. This scoreboard is also the same one that was used during Georgia's 1980 national championship season.
The Spirit Rock
One of the many traditions involved with the Granite Bowl Stadium is touching the spirit rock atop the closed end of the stadium before each game. Hudson Cone, a spokesman for the Granite Association, states that the rock is not from a local source but from Spirit Lake in South DakotaSouth Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
., where legend has it that it was taken from an Indian battlefield.