The stadium was built in the early 1920s by the wealthy owner of the local Thompson's Lumber Company. It was built against a hill in Staten Island's Stapleton neighborhood and doubled in summer as a home for semi-probaseball. Inside its stockade fence, about 8,000 uncovered bleacher seats encircled the field. The field's locker rooms consisted of sheds standing just outside the fence. Stapleton's owner, Dan Blaine, owned a restaurant which was located next door to the stadium, and after games and practices players and fans would meet up for beers.
While an average of 3,000 fans normally paid their way into each game, hundreds of others would usually watch the game for free from the hill behind the south end zone. Although far smaller than other NFL venues, like the Polo Grounds and Wrigley Field, Thompson's Stadium hosted four years of NFL football. The stadium was demolished in 1958, and the borough of Staten Island would be left without a professional ballpark until the Ballpark at St. George was completed in 2001.
References
Hogrogian, John (1985). "The Staten Island Stapletons"(PDF). Coffin Corner. 7 (6). Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–9. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2010-11-27.
Gill, Bob (1994). "Just Staten Out On The Island"(PDF). Coffin Corner. 16 (3). Professional Football Researchers Association: 1–11. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2013-12-03.
Robinson, George (February 1, 2004). "F.Y.I."The New York Times.
†= Team's stadium under construction or refurbishment at time 1 = A team used the stadium when their permanent stadium was unable to be used as a result of damage.
