Mason Square in Springfield in Hampden County, Massachusetts — The American Northeast (New England)

Growth of the Game

Photographed by Conrad Ward, March 9, 2025

1. Growth of the Game Marker

Inscription. The first basketball team was born.
Growth of the Game Beginning in 1892, basketball grew quickly in local popularity. Thanks to the School's international student body and graduates who set off to work around the world, the game spread rapidly to more than a dozen countries. By 1900, basketball was being played on five continents.

By 1900, the game's permanency as a college sport was assured, and it became an Olympic sport in 1936. In the 1930s and 1940s basketball was developed at the professional level and the National Basketball Association (NBA) was established in 1949.

A lengthy campaign to create a basketball hall of fame ultimately resulted in the opening of the first basketball hall of fame on the Springfield College campus in 1968. The game's international reach is symbolized today by the soaring tower of the National Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the world's premiere basketball museum, now located in downtown Springfield.

Basketball is played and watched by over one billion people worldwide — children and adults, males and females, amateurs and professionals — and has brought positive worldwide

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attention to the City of Springfield.

And it all began with a pair of peach baskets in a small gymnasium here in today's Mason Square.

Naismith's words: The Opposition
"Your opponent is not your enemy. Without him, you won't have a game!"

Erected 2010.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Sports. A significant historical year for this entry is 1892.

Location. 42° 6.646′ N, 72° 33.95′ W. Marker is in Springfield, Massachusetts, in Hampden County. It is in Mason Square. It is at the intersection of State Street and Hawley Street, on the right when traveling east on State Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Springfield MA 01109, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Massachusetts’ Knowledge Corridor

and in Pioneer Valley.

It is also in the American Northeast

and in New England.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking

Photographed by Conrad Ward, March 9, 2025

2. Growth of the Game Marker

distance of this marker: The Original Site (a few steps from this marker); The Challenge to James Naismith (a few steps from this marker); Springfield College (a few steps from this marker); Mason Square Viet Nam Memorial (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Winchester Square District World War II Memorial (about 400 feet away); The Buckingham Cornerstone (about 600 feet away); Leonard A. Corbin (about 700 feet away); Shays’ Rebellion (approx. half a mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Springfield.

Another marker is no longer nearby. The First Game of Basketball (was a few steps from this marker but has been confirmed missing).

Also see . . .
1. Springfield College. (Submitted on November 24, 2025, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut.)
2. James Naismith (Wikipedia). (Submitted on November 24, 2025, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut.)

Credits. This page was last revised on January 22, 2026. It was originally submitted on November 17, 2025, by Conrad Ward of Guilford, Connecticut. This page has been viewed 55 times since then and 21 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on November 17, 2025, by Conrad Ward of Guilford, Connecticut. • Michael Herrick was the editor who published this page.