The gas station was build long after LSU was moved to the south campus. It got the name deaf valley because of the stadium being called Death Valley.

Just like Death Valley Cal, had a gas station called deaf valley in the 30's, back in those days the play on words was a common thing to do.

A northeastern school had Death Valley long before LSU and Clemson.

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Posted by TigersOfGeauxld

Just across the water...

Member since Aug 2009

25057 posts

Posted on 6/7/15 at 1:28 pm to tigger1

quote:
The gas station was build long after LSU was moved to the south campus.

You're only partially correct. Construction of the present campus began in 1923. The first game in Tiger Stadium was in 1924. The nearby gas station called "Deaf Valley" was built between 1922-1924 and completed before the first game.

quote:
It got the name deaf valley because of the stadium being called Death Valley.

Completely false. Tiger Stadium was built to hold 12,000 people. Here is a panoramic photo of the very first game in Tiger Stadium against Tulane...

...a game LSU lost 13-0. There wasn't much to cheer about if you were a Tiger fan. So in no way whatsoever would it have earned the name "Deaf Valley" because it was loud.

There were actually several "Deaf Valley" gas stations around. I'm not sure of the origin of that name...possibly from "The Roaring Twenties"..., but I'm pretty sure in any case it had nothing to do with LSU in general and Tiger Stadium in specific.

It's a classic case of the chicken and the egg. In this case, the gas station came first.

Edit: In this photo, Tiger Stadium held 18,000 people (plus 3000 in temp bleachers on either end). Thanks to theantiquetiger for the photo and info.