Ponce de Leon Park
Encyclopedia
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
team called the Atlanta Crackers
Atlanta Crackers
The Atlanta Crackers were minor league baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee in 1966....
for nearly six decades. The Crackers played here in the Southern Association
Southern Association
The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A , Class A1 and Class AA...
(1907–1959) and the International League
International League
The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...
(1962–64). It was also home of the Atlanta Black Crackers
Atlanta Black Crackers
The Atlanta Black Crackers were a professional Negro league baseball team which played during the early to mid 20th century.- Founding :The Crackers were founded in 1919...
who captured the second half championship of the Negro American League in 1938.
The ballpark was at 650 Ponce de Leon Avenue, which was South of the park along its first base side. Up the slope to the east and northeast behind the outfield was a set of railroad tracks once belonging to the Southern Railway
Southern Railway (US)
The Southern Railway is a former United States railroad. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894...
, now part of the BeltLine
Beltline
The Beltline is a region of central Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The area is located immediately to the south of Calgary's downtown , and is sometimes considered part of downtown...
, a trail and future transit ring around the central neighborhoods of Atlanta. Across the street was the Ponce de Leon amusement park
Ponce de Leon amusement park
The Ponce de Leon amusement park was built on the site of Ponce de Leon Springs. Omnibus service from Atlanta to the springs started in 1872, and in 1874 horsecar service started. It developed in the late 1880s and 1890s with the addition of attractions for children, a dance hall and theater, and...
, upon which in 1926 was built the hulking Sears Roebuck southeastern headquarters, now known as Ponce City Market.
The original ballpark on the site opened in 1907. The structure was destroyed by fire in 1923. It was rebuilt in 1924 and was named for club owner Tell J. Spiller. It reverted to its original name in 1933. The seating capacity of the park was about 20,000.
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
and Eddie Mathews
Eddie Mathews
Edwin Lee "Eddie" Mathews was an American Major League Baseball third baseman. He is regarded as one of the greatest third basemen ever to play the game.-Early life:...
both hit home runs that became stuck in the distant tree. In right field, the employees of the Colgate Baby Crib Mattress Company would enjoy games on the roof of the building. Colgate is still making crib mattresses in Atlanta today. Home run balls that flew over the tree often landed in the loading dock at Colgate.
After the Crackers moved to Atlanta Stadium in 1965, Ponce de Leon Park was demolished in favor of a shopping center. The famous magnolia tree is still standing at the edge of the shopping center.
The ballpark's name, like the street that the ballpark stood on, is pronounced the anglicized way by native Atlantans "Pohns duh LEE-awn", instead of the Spanish pronunciation, "Pohns deh leh-OHN".
College Football
- October 24, 1908 Alabama v. Georgia Tech
- November 7, 1908 Auburn v. Georgia Tech
- October 30, 1909 Georgia v. Alabama
- November 15, 1941 Georgia v. Centre
Other Events
On July 1, 1940, the park hosted an exhibition fight between a 45 year old Jack DempseyJack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...
and wrestler Clarence (Cowboy) Luttrell which Dempsey won.
The park also hosted regular Friday night high school football games between Tech High
Henry W. Grady High School
Henry W. Grady High School is located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States in Midtown. It serves as the Communication Magnet school for the Atlanta Public Schools...
Smithies and Boys' High Purple Hurricanes during the 1940s which sometimes outdrew the college games.
External links
- July 1, 1940-Dempsey v Luttrell photo gallery Atlanta History CenterAtlanta History CenterThe Atlanta History Center is a history museum located in the Buckhead district of Atlanta, Georgia. The Museum was founded in 1926, and currently consists of 12 exhibits. There are also historic gardens and houses located on the grounds, including the Swan House and Tullie Smith Farm...
- Georgia Encyclopedia
- Colgate Baby Crib Mattress Company
- Sarah Toton, "Vale of Amusements: Modernity, Technology, and Atlanta's Ponce de Leon Park, 1870-1920" Southern Spaces, 15 January 2008. http://southernspaces.org/2008/vale-amusements-modernity-technology-and-atlantas-ponce-de-leon-park-1870-1920