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Before they debuted in their $325,000,000 Gillette Stadium in Foxborough in September 2002, the New England Patriots played home games just about everywhere in the region going back to the franchise's 1960 start as the Boston Patriots. Some of these spots were not particularly conducive to the game and were very much temporary, pro-football stadiums only because the Patriots happened to be playing there. Others were bona fide home fields for the team, as legitimate in the long-term as Gillette today.
The approximately 62,000-seat Foxboro Stadium opened in 1971 to host the newly renamed New England Patriots. The current Gillette Stadium is across from Foxboro, which closed in early 2002. The photo above shows the new stadium under construction to the bottom right of the soon-to-be-old one.
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The Patriots played in the approximately 30,300-seat, history-making Harvard Stadium from 1970 to 1971. By this time, though, due to the rise of the modern NFL, the pressure was on for a serious pro-football arena.
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The Pats played at the 44,500-seat Boston College Alumni Stadium from 1969 to 1970. It was during a preseason game against Washington that a fire in the grandstand sent fans fleeing onto the field. Thankfully, it does not appear that anyone was seriously injured.
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Related:
Patriots in the Super Bowl Means Good News for Hub Sellers
The Many Real Estate Adventures of Tom Brady
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Yup, the Patriots played at Fenway Park from 1963 to 1969. They had to make sure that their schedule did not interfere with the much more popular Red Sox.
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Beginning in 1960, the Boston Patriots played their first seasons in what was then the American Football League at Boston University's old Nickerson Field that held about 20,000. It had already been home to baseball's Boston Braves.
· Why Harvard Stadium's Revolutionary Concrete Construction Changed the Rules of Football [Curbed National]
· Our History Lessons archive [Curbed Boston]