After returning from an evening of watching the 2009 edition of your 12-Time World Champion Green Bay Packers in their Sunday night practice, we thought we’d turn back the clock a bit to Packers’ Training Camp 1940’s-style.Rockwood Lodge was the training facility of the 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 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 south to coach the Chicago Cardinals. The team eventually received $75,000 from its insurance company.
After Rockwood Lodge, the Packers moved their training camp to Grand Rapids, Minnesota from 1950 through 1953 and then Stevens Point, Wisconsin from 1954-1957 before settling in at St. Norbert College in DePere, Wisconsin, where they house the players during camp to this day.
The grounds of Rockwood Lodge now make up Bay Shore Park.
