[2][3] The 1904 Summer Olympics (the first to be held in the Western Hemisphere) were given to St. Louis, Missouri as a result of the efforts of David Rowland Francis, for whom the stadium and accompanying gymnasium are named.

Built in 1902, Francis Olympic Field's permanent stands represent one of the first applications of reinforced concrete technology.

During the 1904 Games, the stadium hosted the archery, athletics, cycling, football, gymnastics, lacrosse, roque, tug of war, weightlifting, and wrestling events.

From the 1920s through the 1950s, the Bears played before crowds of as many as 19,000 people, competing against universities such as Notre Dame, Nebraska, and Boston College, with half of the spectators in temporary wooden stands.

[6] Francis Olympic Field is an annual host for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life event.