- Rockwood Lodge
Rockwood Lodge was the training facility of the
Green Bay Packers from 1946 through 1949. It is believed to have been the first self-contained team training facility in pro football history.Located approximately 17 miles north of the city of
Green Bay, Wisconsin on a limestone bluff overlooking the eponymous Green Bay, the 53-acre complex included player housing and a natural outdoor "amphitheater" in which team meetings were held.The then-extravagant $32,000 purchase by team president and head coach
Curly Lambeau was controversial among the team's board of directors, and contributed to the deteriorating relationship that eventually led to Lambeau's departure.On January 24, 1950, Rockwood Lodge burned down. One week later, Lambeau resigned his position with the Packers and moved to Chicago to coach the
Chicago Cardinals . The team eventually received $75,000 from its insurance company. [http://www.packers.com/history/fast_facts/financial_1919_to_1958/]After Rockwood Lodge, the Packers moved their training camp to
Grand Rapids, Minnesota from 1950 through 1953 and thenStevens Point, Wisconsin from 1954-1957 before settling in atSt. Norbert College inDePere, Wisconsin , where they train to this day.The grounds of Rockwood Lodge now make up
Bay Shore Park .In 2005, Daniel Flagstad, son of former Rockwood Lodge operators Melvin and Helen Flagstad, donated an authentic Packers #14 jersey worn by
Don Hutson to theGreen Bay Packers Hall of Fame . Flagstad had been given the jersey as a boy in 1946 by the team's equipment manager.External links
* [http://www.packers.com/news/stories/2004/05/10/2/ Packers.com article on Rockwood Lodge, "Letters to Lee Remmel", (May 10, 2004)]
* [http://www.co.brown.wi.us/Parks/parks/bayshore-park/ Bay Shore Park page on Brown County Parks website]
* [http://www.packers.com/news/releases/2005/09/02/1/ Packers.com, "Packers Hall Of Fame Receives Rare Don Hutson Jersey"]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
