Sulphur Dell
Sulphur Dell, formerly known as Sulphur Spring Park and Athletic Park, was a baseball park in Nashville, Tennessee. It was located just north of the Tennessee State Capitol building in the block bounded by modern-day Jackson Street, Fourth Avenue North, Harrison Street, and Fifth Avenue North.[3] The ballpark was famous for its short distance to the right field wall (262 ft (80 m)) and a steep incline in the outfield that ran along the entire outfield wall, mostly in right and center fields.[4] Sportswriter Grantland Rice started calling it "Sulphur Dell" in 1908.[5]
 Sulphur Dell, with its famous right field slope | |
| Former names | Sulphur Spring Park (1885–1889) Athletic Park (1890–1907) |
|---|---|
| Location | 900 Fifth Avenue North Nashville, Tennessee United States |
| Coordinates | 36°10′22″N 86°47′08″W / 36.17278°N 86.78556°WCoordinates: 36°10′22″N 86°47′08″W / 36.17278°N 86.78556°W |
| 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 | |
| Built | November 1884 – May 24, 1885 |
| Opened | March 30, 1885 |
| Closed | September 7, 1963 (last Vols game) |
| Demolished | April 16, 1969 |
| Construction cost | $7,600 (1885)[1] ($180000 in 2020 dollars[2]) |
| Tenants | |
| |
Amateur teams started playing baseball in the area known as Sulphur Spring Bottom as early as 1870.[6] It was a popular recreation area with a natural sulphur spring.[7] It became the home stadium of a few Minor League Baseball teams from 1885 to 1963.[3] A wooden grandstand was built in 1885 for the Nashville Americans baseball team.[8] Other professional baseball teams played there later.[9] The team that played at Sulphur Dell the longest was the Southern Association's Nashville Vols, who played from 1901 to 1963.[3]
After the Vols stopped playing, amateur baseball teams played there in 1964. It was turned into a race track for automobiles for three weeks in 1965. The stadium then served as a tow-in lot for Metro Nashville, before being torn down on April 16, 1969.[10] Until 2014, it was the location of parking lots used by state employees. Since 2015, it has been the location of First Horizon Park, the home stadium of the Triple-A Nashville Sounds baseball team.[11]
A game at Sulphur Dell in 1908
Opening Day at the ballpark in 1909
The ballpark during a flood in 1937
The front entrance in the 1950s
The seats in the 1950s
Sulphur Dell Media
Construction of the new grandstand in 1927
First Tennessee Park, opened in 2015, was built on the site of Sulphur Dell.
Site of home plate at First Tennessee Park
References
- Specific
- ↑ The Base-Ball Season. The Daily American (March 5, 1885). Nashville. p. 4. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
- ↑ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2008Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Sulphur Dell. Stats Crew. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
- ↑ Nipper, Skip. Sulphur Dell: A Brief History. 262 Down Right (January 4, 2014). Retrieved February 6, 2015.
- ↑ Nipper, Skip. Grantland Rice Named "Sulphur Dell" On This Day. 262 Down Right (January 14, 2015). Retrieved February 6, 2015.
- ↑ The Blue Stockings. Republican Banner (May 12, 1870). Nashville. p. 4. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
- ↑ A Card. Daily Republican Banner (July 25, 1839). Nashville. p. 3. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
- ↑ Traughber, Bill. Looking Back: Nashville's Sulphur Springs Ballpark. Nashville Sounds (June 25, 2012)Minor League Baseball. Retrieved March 8, 2020.
- ↑ Nipper, Skip. Baseball Shrines. 262 Down Right (December 12, 2013). Retrieved February 6, 2015.
- ↑ Traughber, Bill. Looking Back: Sulphur Dell Demolished in 1969 (August 26, 2013)Minor League Baseball. Retrieved February 6, 2015.
- ↑ Ballpark at Sulphur Dell. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. December 12, 2013. http://www.nashville.gov/Sports-Authority/Ballpark-at-Sulphur-Dell.aspx. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
- General
- Nipper, Skip. Baseball in Nashville (2007). Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-4391-8.
- Traughber, Bill. Nashville Baseball History: From Sulphur Dell to the Sounds (2017). South Orange, New Jersey: Summer Games Books. ISBN 978-1-938545-83-2.
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