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Downtown in Trenton in Mercer County, New Jersey — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

First Professional Basketball Game

 
 
First Professional Basketball Game Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Gary Nigh, November 16, 2007
1. First Professional Basketball Game Marker
Inscription.
      On this site in 1896, was played the first professional basketball game. Fred Cooper, captain of the Trentons, had arranged for the rental of Masonic Temple Hall, after rent was paid, he distributed the remaining money among the players with each receiving $15.00 and Cooper, as captain, an extra dollar.
      The Trentons were also the first champions of the first professional basketball league, the National Basketball League, winning the championship in the first season, 1898–1899, and repeating their victory the following season.
      In recognition of Fred Cooper, the National Basketball Association presented a plaque to him, the wording of which appears below.
Memorial Award
to
Fred Cooper
First Professional Basketball Player
1896
Presented by National Basketball Association of America
Trenton, N.J.
February 28th, 1955

 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Notable EventsSports. A significant historical year for this entry is 1896.
 
Location. 40° 13.224′ N, 74° 45.959′ W. Marker is in Trenton, New Jersey, in Mercer County. It is in Downtown. Marker is at the intersection of North Warren Street and West State Street, on the right when traveling south on North Warren Street. This
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marker is on the wall of the front plaza of the Mary Roebling State Office Building next to the marker on the Abraham Hunt House. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 20 West State Street, Trenton NJ 08608, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Abraham Hunt House (here, next to this marker); The Signing of the Ratification of the Constitution (a few steps from this marker); First Synagogue (within shouting distance of this marker); Many Meetings During the Revolutionary War (within shouting distance of this marker); Government House (within shouting distance of this marker); Site of the 1776 Hunterdon County Court House and Gaol (within shouting distance of this marker); Alexander Douglass House (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); War Memorial (about 300 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Trenton.
 
Also see . . .  Basketball's First Dynasty. An article by Jon Blackwell / The Trentonian. ...The downtown Masonic Temple hosted the historic event by converting its third-floor banquet hall into a home court. By this time, the peach baskets used by Naismith's first basketballers had given way to portable hoops with cloth netting. But the balls themselves were lumpy, leathery, pumpkin-sized spheres. And the nets had no hole at the bottom — so after every score, an official had to poke the ball out of the net with a long pole....
First Professional Basketball Game Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Gary Nigh, November 16, 2007
2. First Professional Basketball Game Marker
(Submitted on November 27, 2007, by Kevin W. of Stafford, Virginia.) 
 
Additional commentary.
1. Trenton’s Second Masonic Temple
The architect for the second Masonic Temple was Trenton’s own William A. Poland. The cornerstone for the new Masonic Temple was laid with much fanfare on July 15, 1884, in a ceremony that was attended by hundreds, if not thousands, of citizens from Trenton and the surrounding towns. The magnificent new building at the corner of State and Warren Streets was completed in 1885.

It was in this Masonic Temple that the first National Basketball Association game was held on November 7, 1896. At that game the local team, known simply as the Trentons, defeated the team from the Brooklyn YMCA by a score of 16 to 1. The game was held in the third floor social hall which had been converted to a basketball court for the occasion. For the first time an admission fee was charged (25 cents for a seat on the newly-built bleachers, 15 cents for standing room), and the players were paid for their efforts.

In 1916 the Masons learned that the Trenton Banking Company had been steadily buying shares to the building and that it had gained a controlling interest in the State Street property. Following their acquisition of the
This is the Masonic Temple in which the basketball game took place. image. Click for full size.
3. This is the Masonic Temple in which the basketball game took place.
building, the Trenton Banking Company demolished the Hall in order to construct a new bank building.

Compiled from an article published on the Trenton Historic Masonic Temple website, http://www.mercer50.com/. Note To Editor only visible by Contributor and editor    
    — Submitted November 27, 2007, by Kevin W. of Stafford, Virginia.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on February 16, 2023. It was originally submitted on November 18, 2007, by Gary Nigh of Trenton, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 5,769 times since then and 91 times this year. It was the Marker of the Week November 25, 2007. Photos:   1, 2, 3. submitted on November 18, 2007, by Gary Nigh of Trenton, New Jersey. • J. J. Prats was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 19, 2024