I've got a historical question for high school football folks in Louisville: Where was Maxwell Field? Was it close to the current Central High stadium? Does it still exist in any form?

I know Male played its home games there prior to moving to their current location at old Durrett High. Central High often played home games at Maxwell Field, too. Trinity played a few games there in their early years as well.

Maxwell field was on the Male campus at Brook and Breckinridge. I think some one has built a building on it now.

They moved the old cast iron gate to the Male's current campus.

I've got some information cobbled together for you GC from our friend ChatGPT, but it leaves some items missing like who was the field named after and others, but this is great info:

Maxwell Field — The Forgotten Football Stadium of Louisville, Kentucky

Maxwell Field was one of Louisville's historic high school football venues, located immediately behind the original Louisville Male High School building at Brook and Breckinridge Streets. Its history stretches back to 1901, when the athletic grounds were known as High School Park.

1. Where was Maxwell Field located?

Historical location: 911 South Brook Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40203.

The athletic field was situated behind Male High School's former downtown campus, within the area bounded by:

• South Brook Street — west

• East Breckinridge Street — north

• South Floyd Street — east

• East Caldwell Street — south

The former football field occupied the block immediately east of the historic Male High School building.

The location is important because Male occupied its Brook and Breckinridge campus from 1915 until 1991. For much of that period, Maxwell Field was associated with the school's football program.

2. The History of Maxwell Field

According to the Louisville Male High School Alumni Association, the field's history began well before the school moved to Brook and Breckinridge.

Year	Historical event
1893	Male and Manual played their first football game, beginning their historic rivalry.
1901	High School Park was established at the future Brook and Breckinridge campus.
1915	Male High School moved to its new building at Brook and Breckinridge.
1939	High School Park was renamed Maxwell Field, according to the Male Alumni Association's history.
1952	Maxwell Field was used for games relocated after Manual Stadium was condemned.
1991	Male High School moved to its present location on Preston Highway.

The Male Alumni Association describes High School Park as the first high school athletic facility in America. That is an interesting historical claim, although I would want to verify it independently before treating it as established fact.

The alumni association also confirms that the name Maxwell Field was adopted during the school's Brook and Breckinridge years. malealumni.org

Maxwell Field and the Male–Manual rivalry

Maxwell Field was associated with one of Kentucky's most historic football programs.

Male and Manual first met in 1893, with Male winning 14–12. Their rivalry eventually became one of the most celebrated high school football traditions in the country.

Although the teams also played at other Louisville stadiums, Maxwell Field was part of the athletic history surrounding Male's downtown campus.

An interesting discovery from 1952

I found a particularly useful reference in Louisville Metro's 2024 historic designation report for duPont Manual Stadium.

The report documents that Manual Stadium was condemned and closed on September 6, 1952, shortly before the football season began.

Manual's scheduled games were subsequently relocated to Maxwell Field and Parkway Field.

This confirms that Maxwell Field was still an active football venue in the early 1950s and was sufficiently established to accommodate games displaced from another major high school stadium.

3. What is on the Maxwell Field property today?

The former Maxwell Field site is now associated with the Dawson Orman Education Center at 900 South Floyd Street.

Dawson Orman Education Center

The address corresponds to the eastern portion of the block formerly occupied by Male High School and its athletic facilities.

The Dawson Orman Education Center is an active Jefferson County Public Schools preschool facility. Federal education records for the 2025–2026 school year list it as open and serving prekindergarten students. National Center for Education Statistics

The available historical sources identify this as the successor site of Maxwell Field. However, I haven't established precisely how much of the former playing surface is now covered by buildings, parking, or other improvements.

You can locate the area using the address 900 South Floyd Street, Louisville, KY 40203.

4. Male, Central, and Trinity football at Maxwell Field

You mentioned that Male, Central, and Trinity all played there.

That is a particularly interesting part of the stadium's history because it suggests Maxwell Field served a broader role in Louisville high school football than simply being Male's home field.

Male High School: Its connection to Maxwell Field is well documented through the school's alumni history.

Central High School: I have not yet found a primary historical source establishing the specific seasons when Central used Maxwell Field or whether it was considered one of Central's home venues.

Trinity High School: Trinity began operating in 1953, so its potential use of Maxwell Field would have occurred after the field was already well established. I haven't yet verified which seasons Trinity played there or whether it regularly hosted home games at the facility.

The Trinity High School Archives are a particularly promising source. They contain historical student newspapers and yearbooks that could document the team's home-game locations during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

I have access to some old aerial photographs and topographic maps, and I found a good aerial of the Old Male High School property for years between 1940 and 2016. The site looks like it does now in the 2012 and 2016 photos. But from the 2008 back to 1940 it showed Maxwell Field.

Below is a close up shot from 1973. It was the best, brightest photo I could work with. I think it's pretty darn cool!

I also "may" have access to some Old Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps that I'll try to see if I can find one for this area too!

58 minutes ago, Purple88 said:

I also "may" have access to some Old Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps that I'll try to see if I can find one for this area too!

Awesome! Thanks Purple! And I'm a big fan of the old Sanborn maps. They are really neat to see.

1 hour ago, Purple88 said:

I have access to some old aerial photographs and topographic maps, and I found a good aerial of the Old Male High School property for years between 1940 and 2016. The site looks like it does now in the 2012 and 2016 photos. But from the 2008 back to 1940 it showed Maxwell Field.

Below is a close up shot from 1973. It was the best, brightest photo I could work with. I think it's pretty darn cool!

I also "may" have access to some Old Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps that I'll try to see if I can find one for this area too!

That's a really good shot of it!

I checked out HistoricAerials.com (I'm not a site member so as a free user you can only view kind of low-ish quality images) but they have an index of aerial shots for most cities in North America. Their oldest aerial for the stadium location is from 1955, and then it looks like their last aerial showing the stadium still in place was in 1998. The next aerial shot in their index was from 2002, at which point JCPS had built the Dawson Orman Pre-K there.