Athletic Park (Nashville)
| Suffer Hell | |
Sulphur Dell, with the famous right field incline visible
|
|
| Former names | Sulphur Springs Ball Park (c. 1850s–1960s) Athletic Park (1870–1907) |
|---|---|
| Location | 900 Fifth Avenue North Nashville, Tennessee |
| Coordinates | 36°10′23.31″N 86°47′7.39″W / 36.1731417°N 86.7853861°WCoordinates: 36°10′23.31″N 86°47′7.39″W / 36.1731417°N 86.7853861°W |
| Capacity | 2,500 (1901) 7,000 (1927) 8,000 (1932) 8,500 (1938) |
| Field size |
1885–1926: Left Field: 362 ft (110 m) Center Field: 485 ft (148 m) Right Field: 362 ft (110 m) 1927–1963: Left Field: 334 ft (102 m) Center Field: 421 ft (128 m) Right Field: 262 ft (80 m) |
| Surface | grass |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1870 |
| Renovated | 1885, 1897, 1908, 1927, 1951 |
| Expanded | 1920, 1938 |
| Closed | September 7, 1963 (last Vols game) |
| Demolished | April 16, 1969 |
| Architect | Marr and Holman (1927) |
| General contractor | J. B. Hinson Co. (1927) |
| Tenants | |
|
|
Sulphur Dell was a minor league baseball park in Nashville, Tennessee. Originally known as Sulphur Springs Ball Park and later Athletic Park, it was used for baseball for nearly 100 years, from 1870 to 1963. Its longest tenant was the Southern Association's Nashville Vols, who played there from 1901 to 1963. The ballpark, demolished in 1969, was located in the block bounded by present-day Jackson Street, Fourth Avenue North, Harrison Street, and Fifth Avenue North. First Tennessee Park, a new ballpark which opened in 2015, was built for the Nashville Sounds Triple-A team on the site of the original ballpark.
Sulphur Dell was originally situated in the northeastern corner of the block with home plate facing southwest. Prior to the 1927 season, the entire ballpark was demolished and rebuilt in the southeastern corner with home plate facing northeast. The ballpark's best-known features, which were born of this realignment, were it's short distance to the right field wall (262 ft (80 m)) and it's significant "terrace" or sloping outfield: a steep incline that ran along the entire outfield wall, most dramatically in right and center fields.
Sulphur Springs Ball Park, as it was first known, was located in an area referred to by early settlers as French Lick Springs. Pioneers came to this bottomland, or dell, for trading and watering at a natural sulphur spring. Also known as Sulphur Springs Bottom, this later became a popular area for picnicking and recreation.
Nashvillians started playing baseball as early as the 1850s. Many local amateur baseball teams played their games at Sulphur Springs Bottom. In order to meet the city's need for a dedicated baseball field, a portion of the dell was designated for this purpose and called Sulphur Springs Ball Park. By 1870, the baseball grounds were referred to as Athletic Park.
In 1885, the Nashville Americans minor league baseball team became charter members of the newly formed Southern League. Athletic Park, which had hitherto been little more that solely a baseball field, required improvements to make it suitable for professional teams. A 150-foot (46 m) wooden grandstand was built at the corner of modern-day Fourth Avenue North and Jackson Street. The main Jackson Street entrance led past the ticket booth and into the grandstand's reserved seats behind home plate and a screen backstop. Rooms for players, directors, scorers, and reporters were built under the grandstand. Two of them had views of the field, which were protected by wire screens. Restrooms and water fountains, which pumped up sulphur water from the springs below, were also built. The distance to the outfield fence was 362 feet (110 m) to left and right fields and 485 feet (148 m) to center.
...
Wikipedia