Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives

Source: Fall 2005 Volume 42 Number 4, Pages 134–137

TEAMER FIELD RENOVATION
CONESTOGA HIGH SCHOOL

Joyce A. Post

Page 134

THE OLD AND THE NEW

Teamer Field, Conestoga High School's main athletic field, located on Conestoga Road across from the high school, underwent a $6.7 million renovation during the first 7 months of 2005. This was the first major overhaul of the field since it was originally built in 1950. It was dedicated during homecoming week at the September 30, 2005 Friday night football game against Ridley High School which Conestoga won 21-14.

The original field had been dedicated almost exactly 55 years earlier on September 15, 1950 at a football game against Lansdale High School which Conestoga won 18-6. Although the 2005 renovations are the first since 1950, the field itself is in the same location as the original field. It was given the name Teamer Field during the 1950 dedication and is still known by this name. Conestoga High School, however, was not built until 1955, five years after the dedication of Teamer Field.

Before 1955 the school was the Tredyffrin-Easttown High School—also known as the Berwyn High School—built in 1908 and torn down in 1970 and located at the site of the present Tredyffrin/Easttown Middle School facility at the southwest corner of Conestoga and Howellville Roads. Before 1950 the athletic field was on the southwest side of the old high school building in approximately the same location as the present middle school's various game fields. Before the move to Conestoga High School the football team was known variously as either the “T-E Squad” or the “T-E Bulldogs.” After the move to Conestoga they became the “Pioneers,” a name they still retain.

The original 1950 field had 3,200 seats in permanent stands. The bleacher sections built in 2005 seat 2,848 people, with 1,948 regular seats and 16 wheelchair accessible seats on the home side and 874 regular seats and 10 wheelchair accessible seats on the visitors' side. The original field claimed to be well sodded with excellent drainage, but it required between $30,000 and $55,000 each year for grass seed and new sod. In 2005, Next-Turf, a new form of artificial turf, that cost $1 million and has a 10-year warranty was laid down. The original field had permanent lights that had a lighting capacity of 90,000 watts and were located 65 feet above the playing field. This was the first time any main line school had permanent lighting for night events. Now there are 4 new lights, a new scoreboard, and a camera surveillance system.

New features added in 2005 include 2 concession buildings, one at each end of the home team bleachers; bathrooms with 28 toilets for women, 16 for men, and 2 that are family-style; 2 team rooms; a viewing platform, a press box, and storage space.

The renovation was developed and managed by Daley and Jalboot, Architects.

S. PAUL TEAMER

Teamer Field was named in honor of S. Paul Teamer, the school's football coach for 19 years; from 1913 to 1931.

Samuel Paul Teamer was born in Malvern on August 23, 1890. He was a member of the first graduating class—in 1909—of the new Tredyffrin-Easttown High School. He went on to Bucknell University where he played on the football team and graduated in 1913. After Bucknell he came back to Tredyffrin-Easttown High

Page 135

Tredyffrin-Easttown High School, built in 1908 and demolished in 1970, stood on the corner of Conestoga and Howellville Roads in Berwyn where the present Tredyffrin/Easttown Middle School now stands. 1926 postcard courtesy of Ruth W. McQuiston.

The goal posts in this central portion of a wider photograph of the 1924 football team show that the athletic field at that time was on the southwest corner behind the Tredyffrin-Easttown High School. Photograph by Belt's Studio of West Chester. Courtesy of Ruth W. McQuiston. Ruth has identified the player standing at the far left as a relative, Frank Walker, Jr. None of the other players have been identified.

Page 136

Teamer Field dedication program, September 15, 1950. From the souvenir program for the football game that night between Tredyffrin-Easttown and Lansdale.

S. Paul Teamer. Daily Local News, August 23, 1939.

The Tredyffrin-Easttown Band in 1950. This view is from the visitor side of Teamer Field looking northwest across Conestoga Road to where Conestoga High School would be built 5 years later. The entrance to the field is in the upper left corner. Stanley M. Gray was the music supervisor and in 1949 the band won a marching award in the Cultural Olympics at the University of Pennsylvania. The band was first organized on November 5, 1930. The photograph is from the souvenir program for the September 29, 1950 football game between Tredyffrin-Easttown and Conshohocken.

Page 137

School as a history teacher and coach of the football team. In 1914 he became the principal of the school, a position he retained for 26 years, until his death in 1940. During his tenure the school grew from an enrollment of 100 students to 1,000 students. With his increasing duties as principal, he gave up his position as football coach in 1931.

From 1918 to 1919, during World War I, he served as a First Lieutenant in the 79th Division, Field Artillery. He was a personnel adjutant and supply officer and received distinction for his ability as an organizer. During the war he contacted an infection in Europe that resulted in injuries to both legs.

In 1930 he married Miss Mildred Brown of Green Tree, a long time invalid.

In addition to football, Paul Teamer had a life-long interest in local history and in 1936 was a co-founder, with Mrs. Mildred Bradley, of the Tredyffrin Easttown History Club. He was the organization's first president, a position he held until his death in 1940. He was also a director of the Chester County Historical Society.

He was 50 years old when he died. He had gone to Chester County Hospital for an operation on his right leg, a condition not considered serious at the time. Six years earlier, when he was seriously ill, he had a similar operation on his left leg.

SOURCES

Obituary [Samuel Paul Teamer]. Daily Local News, June 25, 1940.

“S. Paul Teamer.” Tredyffrin Easttown History Club Quarterly, Vol. 8, No. 4 (October 1955), pp. 111-112.

“Teamer Field at Berwyn To Seat 3,200.” Daily Local News, September 14, 1950, p. 16.

Joyce A. Post is the editor of the Tredyffrin Eastttown History Quarterly.

Members of the 1950 Tredyffrin-Easttown Squad and starting lineup for the football game against Lansdale on the night of the Teamer Field dedication. From the souvenir program of September 15, 1950.