Concerns about its soundness after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake nearly resulted in its closure, but tests that determined the building was stronger than previously believed, as well as the prohibitive costs of erecting a new auditorium, led to its preservation.

Between 1949 and 1962, Legion Stadium overlapped as the host venue for Cliffie Stone's Hometown Jamboree and Art Laboe's "Oldies, but Goodies" concerts.

These became an important part of the history of the country music and nascent rock and roll subcultures in the Greater Los Angeles area.

James Thurman, whose company had built it, said that one of the trustees of the El Monte Union High School District board had a personal grudge against him that led him to vigorously campaign for demolition.

In 1935, during the inaugural El Monte Pioneer Days, it was the venue for The End of the Santa Fe Trail, a play that celebrated the city's early years.

[19] On January 16, 1945, the American Legion, Post 261, purchased the building from El Monte Union High School District for $26,650.

[20] A former Legionnaire, John W. Goodenow, explained the rationale for their purchase: [W]e knew the boys were coming home from World War II and needed a place to have their parties and their meetings and to have a good time.

[6][22] Boxing and wrestling matches were hosted by Legion Stadium twice a week and were very profitable in the immediate postwar years, but interest in them quickly dwindled.

[23] According to the Pasadena Independent Star-News, Legion Stadium reached its "heyday of popularity" when it became the home of Cliffie Stone's Hometown Jamboree,[15] a country music television program that was initially broadcast locally on KLAC, then moved to KTLA.

Stone recalled that Tennessee Ernie Ford, one of the performers on Hometown Jamboree, had been the catalyst for the change of venue and broadcasting medium: He'd heard about El Monte Legion Stadium.

[25] At its peak, Hometown Jamboree was the highest-rated television program in Los Angeles[24] and drew upwards of 4,000 people to Legion Stadium per show.

[25] In 1955, Legion Stadium attracted the attention of Art Laboe, the host of a rock and roll radio show in Los Angeles.

[26] At first, Laboe sought a new show venue within the city of Los Angeles, but was dissuaded by its laws that placed restrictions on gatherings of people under the age of 18, which required permission from the board of the LAUSD.

[28] Nevertheless, Laboe, his business partner Hal Zeiger, and Johnny Otis, who also organized shows at Legion Stadium, ran into opposition from the El Monte City Council; their dance permits for Legion Stadium were revoked on the grounds that the rock and roll music performed at their shows created an "unwholesome, unhealthy situation".

Guest performers included The Penguins,[30] Don and Dewey, Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, Ritchie Valens,[31] Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chubby Checker, Tommy Sands, The Coasters, and the Everly Brothers.

[38] The process was stalled by the reorganization of the Post Office into the USPS, but was finalized in January 1973 after Legion Stadium was sold to the United States Army Corps of Engineers for $369,800 (c. $2,600,000 in 2023).

[12] Experiences at Legion Stadium led Frank Zappa and Ray Collins to write the 1962 song "Memories of El Monte", which was named after an eponymous LP compilation produced by Laboe.

Times we will never forget, lives in the hearts and minds of the thousands that attended the El Monte Legion Stadium through the years.