Seen from the rim of Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco, Rose Bowl Stadium looks almost tucked into the canyon floor. That relationship between the building and the landscape explains how architect Myron Hunt could give a large stadium such a low profile. The history of the Rose Bowl begins before the stadium itself, when football was one of several ways Pasadena drew winter visitors to the Tournament of Roses.
A New Year’s tradition before the stadium
The Tournament’s first East–West football game took place at Tournament Park in 1902, when Michigan defeated Stanford 49–0. Football then disappeared from the festivities for more than a decade. It returned in 1916 and became an annual event. The crowds that gathered at Tournament Park made a larger, permanent venue an increasingly practical idea.
How the Arroyo shaped Myron Hunt’s design
Hunt’s stadium took shape in the Central Arroyo in 1922. Earthworks and reinforced concrete supported the seating, and the original plan left the south end open in a horseshoe. California and USC played there in October 1922. The formal dedication came on January 1, 1923, with USC playing Penn State. In 1928, seating closed the south end and gave the bowl the elliptical shape recognizable today.
A Pasadena venue with an international audience
The stadium later hosted Olympic events, Super Bowls and both men’s and women’s World Cup matches. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987 for its place in collegiate sports history. Its setting remains central to the experience. Even with stands full of people, the mountains and the canyon give the venue a sense of place that an aerial view makes especially clear.
The place in the poster
Our Pasadena Arroyo Seco Stadium poster takes that wider view, with the stadium held low in the composition and a sunset stretching over the mountains.
See the Pasadena Arroyo Seco Stadium poster or browse the Pacific Moderne Travel Posters collection.
Continue with Colorado Street Bridge History: Why Pasadena’s Landmark Curves.