North Capitol in Nashville in Davidson County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Origins of Baseball in Nashville
Baseball
Photographed By Darren Jefferson Clay, May 22, 2021
1. Origins of Baseball in Nashville Marker
Baseball is the hurrah game of the republic!
-Walt Whitman
Baseball in America has a storied past. Though its modern origins are linked to amateur social clubs in New York and New Jersey in the 1840s and '50s, the sport expanded during the Civil War (1861 - 1865), reaching other areas of the country, including the South. Union soldiers are often credited with transforming the game into a recreational pastime. Baseball enhanced camaraderie, boosted morale, and gave soldiers a way to pass the time.
The earliest official record of baseball being played in and around Nashville was the summer of 1860. The first games were played just across the Cumberland River in Edgefield. In the years following the Civil War, several amateur teams sprang up in town. The Nashville Pontiacs, the Nashville Athletic Club, Lincks Hotel, and the East Nashville Deppins were a few of the first to play at the Sulphur Springs Bottom, open fields prone to flooding by the Cumberland River located just north of the Tennessee State Capitol building.
[Caption:]
Nashville Republican Banner
Baseball being played in Hoboken, New Jersey (1859). The game would soon become a national pastime.
Erected 2021.
Topics. This historical
this page online
Location. 36° 10.286′ N, 86° 47.085′ W. Marker is in Nashville, Tennessee, in Davidson County. It is in North Capitol. Marker can be reached from 5th Avenue North, 0.2 miles north of Harrison Street, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 815 5th Ave N, Nashville TN 37219, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Athletic Park (here, next to this marker); Sulphur Dell (here, next to this marker); The Sportswriters (here, next to this marker); The Grandstands (here, next to this marker); The Negro Leagues (a few steps from this marker); The Nashville Vols (a few steps from this marker); Baseball Returns (a few steps from this marker); End of an Era (a few steps from this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Nashville.
Photographed By Darren Jefferson Clay, May 22, 2021
2. Baseball Markers
Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 13, 2021, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. This page has been viewed 143 times since then and 17 times this year. Last updated on June 14, 2021, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. Photos: 1. submitted on June 13, 2021, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. 2. submitted on June 14, 2021, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
