Riegel Stadium
Ware Shoals, SC
Review by Gary
Soon after Riegel Stadium was built in 1931, it became the main source of entertainment for town of Ware Shoals. Constructed in a trench below the grade of the town high school next to it, Riegel Stadium was first used for football games. A baseball field with a magnificent stone, steel and wood grandstand was added later.
The ballpark is named after Benjamin Riegel, who founded the Ware Shoals Manufacturing Company, later known as Riegel Textile Corporation. Lighting for night games was installed soon after the ballpark opened as high school teams, textile baseball leagues (for both men and women), American Legion and the Negro baseball leagues would all do battle on this great diamond. In 1954, the stadium hosted an exhibition game between the Cincinnati Red Legs and The Washington Senators after they completed their spring training that year.
It has been said that Riegel’s outfield was “so big that virtually no one could hit the ball over the center field fence.” The outfield comes to a point in centerfield, rather than forming an arc, so a ball hit to dead center may never leave the yard. The football field runs lengthwise along the left field wall with one endzone in right field and the other down the third base line.
Riegel Stadium is adjacent to Ware Shoals High School, built in 1926. It is one of the oldest schools in South Carolina that is still in use. The Ware Shoals Hornets still play both football and baseball on this storied field. A spectacular vintage-looking scoreboard rises high above the clubhouse that is either original or may have been installed in 2008 as part of the scenery for the movie Leatherheads that was filmed on its gridiron. If any local can confirm the age of the football scoreboard, please let us know!
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2026
296
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HIstoric Photos courtesy of the Greenwood Public Library
