On a Friday evening in September, my family and I decided to attend a Weir High football game. It had to be my first Friday night high school football game for at least 15 years or more. In fact, the last time I was at a game, it was down at the old Jimmy Carey Stadium in downtown Weirton, off of Virginia Avenue.

Nestled between a hillside and the mill, the complex was full of character. The old concrete stands were unique, and I have a distinct memory of spectators, mostly older men, standing under the announcer’s booth smoking cigars and cigarettes while watching the game. The white smoke rising, mixing with the cool autumn air underneath those giant floodlights, made the scene memorable. And who could forget the announcing of Bob Rossell, whose distinct voice would echo in the night, bouncing off of the smokestacks and walls of the nearby sheet mill amid the cheering crowd?

I always thought the old stadium was a bit out of place, to be fair. It seemed that it was tucked away and not very accessible to the visiting team. My family would often park downtown on Main Street near the Strip Steel office and walk up to the stadium. We would sometimes stop at an establishment called the “48.” My father tells me that at one time, the Hot Mill in Weirton Steel could roll a 48-inch slab of steel into a coil (hence the name) weighing around a 20-ton average depending on the length and customer specifications.

Later, the Hot Mill expanded to 54 inches. This place was near Mill Gate 5, you could see it from the front door, and it was a popular spot for mill workers and for families before the Weir High game. In that place, mill workers could cash their paychecks, but the cashier would keep whatever change as a payment for the service.

The business was there a long while, earlier than the 1950s, certainly before my time, but I remember it being packed before the games. Moving out of the place with my friends, we would start the climb up Virginia Avenue to the stadium. On the corner of Virginia Avenue and West Street there once stood the old Beth Israel Jewish Synagogue, and on one morning before a Weir High game, it fell down. The building was built in 1927 and obviously in a state of disrepair. We would pass the telephone building, now the Union Hall, and move past the packed parking lots of the mill to the stadium.

The stadium was not always by itself, but part of the complex of the old Weir High School that faced Orchard Street. Those buildings built in 1917 and 1923, respectively, ceased as a high school in 1963 and were demolished in the early 1980s. The location of the old Weir High stadium was occupied since around 1794 by the Griffith House. This stone building served as a blockhouse during a time in our local history when the threat of Native American attacks were common in our area.

If threatened with attack, nearby settlers could move to this fortified stone building to fend off their enemy. This building was demolished to make way for the new stadium which, according to local historian Dennis Jones in his book “Weirton — A Pageant of Nations,” “was completed during the summer of 1935 at a cost of $50,000, and on Labor Day, the second-annual Festival of Nations would become the first official event to take place there attracting more than 15,000 visitors.”

The Festival of Nations was an idea, according to Jones, that was put forth in Weir High’s 1929 yearbook where all of Weirton’s nationalities were represented in a pageant. The first festival in 1934 was held at the new Margaret Manson Weir Memorial Pool on Marland Heights, where, according to Jones, an estimated 10,000 people gathered for the festivities. The purpose of the festival was “designed to be noncompetitive and create a sense of fellowship and unity among the various ethnic groups and also provide comforting memories of their homeland.”

From 1935 through 1944, the annual event was held at the stadium. During the Second World War, the festival turned from celebrating distinct nationalities to promoting our common effort in those days, the cause of freedom, and inspiring patriotism at that trying time.

After the festivals ended, the stadium was just home to high school football. The first football game to be held at the stadium occurred on Sept. 21, 1935, and Weir defeated Cleveland South, 14-0.

Also in that year, Coach Carl Hamill led the team to a season record of 10-0-0, and the school was state champs. The first night game occurred on Sept. 16, 1938, in which Weir defeated Follansbee, 27-0. In 1981, the stadium was renamed Jimmy Carey Stadium after the late Coach Jimmy Carey. Many students who played at the stadium went on to professional careers.

The Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center maintains a list of professional athletes from Weirton, not just football players, but basketball, baseball and professional golfers who have had a connection to Weirton at one time. Not a complete list, but those who played on the field include Bob Gain, a Weir grad of 1947, who went on to play for the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Cleveland Browns; Bob Jeter, Weir grad of 1956, who went on to play for the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears; Bill Tucker, Weir High grad of 1962, who went on to play for the San Francisco 49’rs and the Chicago Bears; Tony Jeter, Weir High grad 1962, who went on to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers; Gene Trosch, a 1963 Madonna grad, who went on to play for the Kansas City Chiefs; and in my day, Quincy Wilson, a Weir High grad of 1999, who went on to play for the Atlanta Falcons and Cincinnati Bengals.

The list goes on, and it is very impressive that so many professionals came from our city and excelled in sports. Today there is a marker made from the goal post from the old Weir High Stadium at the corner of Cove Road and Weir Avenue, which lists known athletes from Weirton. The marker was installed in 2014. It is appropriate to be located along Weir Avenue as that street has the distinction of producing at least seven professional athletes all within a few blocks.

Weirton’s sports heritage is rich.

The history of the old stadium came to a close on Oct. 28, 2011, when Weir High played its last game on the field against East Liverpool, losing 40-0. After 76 years of community events, the gates were closed for the last time to the cheering fans, enthusiastic bands and determined players.

The following August, the new Jimmy Carey Stadium was dedicated, next to Weir High. This place now holds about a decade of memories for a new generation of students and members of our community. I am sure that if the new place lasts as long as the last stadium, great things are bound to happen on that field.