The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/714462
36 ■ THE WOLFPACKER 50 1966 2016 Sacred Grounds The property on which Carter-Finley Stadium was built had three dis- tinct locations with gravesites, some of which dated back to the 19th century. PHOTO COURTESY NCSU LIBRARIES AL JORDAN NC STATE ALUMNUS WHO HAS SEEN EVERY GAME AT CARTER-FINLEY Wolfpack fan and alum Al Jordan brought his first season tickets to football in 1966 for $15, and he has never missed a game at Carter-Finley Stadium. "One of the most enjoyable things I ever did was watch ‑ ing the 1967 team, the White shoes team, who advanced to No. 3 in the nation. That was a time before the Atlantic Coast Conference was really that well known on the national scene. For NC State to do that was almost unheard of. That was my favorite team. "There have been so many games. The Florida State game that we won 17‑16 in 2012 was one of my favorite times simply because I had a lot of family there, including some grandchildren. "Most of the family had gone home and left just me and my son, who is a big Wolfpack fan. He and I were at the end of that game to soak up the ambience of it. It was a big thrill that we beat Florida State. My son and I took a picture under the scoreboard. "I hate to admit some of the memories are the losses. They tend to hang with you longer. The most memorable one was the Penn State loss in 1979 when we had a 7‑6 lead with less than 30 seconds left. On fourth‑and‑24 they threw a 30‑some yard pass, got out of bounds and kicked a 54‑yard field goal. We lost 9‑7. That was heartbreaking." CARTER-FINLEY MEMORIES PHOTO COURTESY AL JORDAN If you've ever gotten a haunting feeling walking through Carter‑Finley Stadium's empty parking lots long after the final seconds have ticked off the scoreboard, there's a good reason. The place is probably crawling with rarely mentioned haunts from long ago, from the families that once owned the land, the slaves that once worked it and from the African‑American church congregation that worshipped for more than 100 years not far from the stadium's north end zone. There are three distinct locations on the stadium property where gravesites dat‑ ing back to the 19th century were silent for years, some of which were trod for five decades by unsuspecting tailgaters and fans headed to and from the stadium for NC State football games and other activities. Most have been relocated over the last three years to make way for improvements to the stadium complex, including a new entry into Carter‑Finley and the newly opened indoor practice facility. Most recently, a dozen gravesites were identified in a half‑acre plot hidden by pines, oaks and dogwoods just outside Gate 6, adjacent to the RV parking lot. They were relocated to a special section of the historic Oakwood Cemetery in downtown Raleigh last summer. It shouldn't be surprising. For more than 100 years, various families owned the farmland passed down from Raleigh founder Joel Lane in what was called House's Creek Township, thousands of acres that are now bisected by Trinity and Blue Ridge roads. Some of that land was used during the Civil War to create Camp Mangum, a Confederate training center commanded by Maj. Gens. D.H. Hill (for whom NC State's first main library is named) and Stephen Ramseur. During World War I, the sweeping swath of land was leased by the federal govern ‑ ment from Raleigh farmer J.R. Chamberlain and other displaced residents to hastily create Camp Polk, where 30,000 soldiers prepared for deployment overseas and the U.S. Army built the nation's only tank training grounds. It was largely unused, however, with the war ending before the site was fully developed. The state of North Carolina's prison system acquired the massive tract of land on Jan. 1, 1920. The land was subdivided through the years and shared with NC State, Meredith College, the state fairgrounds, a youth detention center and farm, and the state museum of art. On its portion of the land, NC State developed a faculty club, its veterinary school, research farmland and a fisheries research pond that later became the site for the stadium. When grading began for the Close‑King Indoor Practice Facility in 2014, approxi ‑ mately 30 graves belonging to the Rev. John W. Dalton and other members of the Lincolnville AME Church were moved by Sutton and Sutton Cemetery Relocation Services of Rocky Mount to a larger wooden portion of the parking lots northeast of the stadium off PNC Arena Road. That's where 41 marked and 89 unmarked graves associated with Lincolnville AME Church have long been protected by a grove of pine trees. They were formally identified in a 2013 survey. The Lincolnville congregation was founded in 1874, worshipped for more than 100 years on what are now the stadium parking lots and moved to its current loca‑ tion at 6400 Chapel Hill Road in 1982. Other than that large collection of secluded gravesites, there's now only one sig‑ nificant final resting place in the stadium complex: Late head coach Earle Edwards, the man most responsible for the stadium's construction and development, had his ashes spread on the playing field after his death in 1997. — Tim Peeler