The Davis Rink was an indoor

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...

on the campus of

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

. The arena served as the home for the Dartmouth ice hockey program for nearly 50 years and was the last natural ice surface used for Division I hockey when it closed in 1975.

History

After having to field their team on Occom Pond throughout the 1920s, Dartmouth wanted a more permanent home for one of the premier college programs. The college erected Davis Rink in 1929 and, while it was one of the first indoor rinks for a college team, the ice was still natural and subject to weather conditions. While other rinks across the country would retrofit their facilities with artificial ice, Davis Rink would remain an open-air arena for its duration. Towards the end it was apparent that the arena was a drag on the program, with inconsistent ice and very sparse seating, and in 1975 the

Thompson Arena Rupert C. Thompson Arena is a 3,500-seat hockey arena in Hanover, New Hampshire. It is home to the Dartmouth College Big Green men's and women's ice hockey teams. The barrel-vaulted, reinforced concrete arena was designed by renowned architect ...

was completed and served as the next home for the Big Green. The Davis Rink would remain on campus until it was demolished in 1985 to make way for the Berry Sports Center.

References

{{Dartmouth Big Green men's ice hockey navbox Defunct college ice hockey venues in the United States Defunct indoor arenas in the United States Defunct sports venues in New Hampshire Dartmouth College facilities Buildings and structures in Hanover, New Hampshire 1929 establishments in New Hampshire 1975 disestablishments in New Hampshire Sports venues demolished in 1985 Sports venues completed in 1929 Demolished sports venues in the United States Indoor arenas in New Hampshire