Historic Hicks Field is a historic

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

stadium and national

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

located in

Edenton, North Carolina Edenton is a town in, and the county seat of, Chowan County, North Carolina, United States, on Albemarle Sound. The population was 4,397 at the 2020 census. Edenton is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks region. In recent years Edenton has b ...

, ( Chowan County). The stadium is home to the John A. Holmes High School Aces as well as the

Edenton Steamers The Edenton Steamers are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Edenton, North Carolina. Beginning in 2020 they will participate in the Tidewater Summer League. 2019 was the Steamers 22nd year as a member of the Coastal Plain League where ...

of the

Coastal Plain League The Coastal Plain League (CPL) is a wood-bat collegiate summer baseball league, featuring college players recruited from throughout the nation. The league takes its name from the Class D level Coastal League which operated in the area from 19 ...

. Hicks Field was a

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

project in 1939 at the corner of East Freemason and Woodward, adjacent to

John A. Holmes High School John A. Holmes High School is a public high school located in Edenton, North Carolina. The school has a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program. References External links

* Public high schools in North Carolina Education in Ch ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1995. The main structure is a wood grandstand with a roof that was built to accommodate slightly more than 500 people. The main grandstand is the oldest remaining wooden grandstand of its type in the state of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. Over the years, Hicks Field has been home to many minor league and semipro baseball teams, including the Edenton Colonials of the

Virginia League The Virginia League was a minor league baseball affiliation which operated in Virginia and North Carolina from 1906 to 1928. It was classified as a "C" league from 1906 to 1919 and as a "B" league from 1920 to 1928. The most famous alumni to c ...

in 1951, the original

in 1952 and the semipro Albemarle League. Beginning in the 1930s, the Albemarle League was well known for high-level baseball as both top local players and college stars from around the region suited up for teams also representing

Elizabeth City Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and largest city of Pasquotank County. It is the cultural, economic and educ ...

, Hertford, Colerain, Windsor and Williamston.Holaday, Chris (1998). Professional Baseball in North Carolina: An Illustrated City-by-city History, 1901-1996. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. . Hicks Field was also the longtime spring training site for a number of minor league teams during the 1940s, including

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

, and

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...

. Players such as

Bob Feller Robert William Andrew Feller (November 3, 1918 – December 15, 2010), nicknamed "the Heater from Van Meter", "Bullet Bob", and "Rapid Robert", was an American baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Clevel ...

and other major league all-stars have set foot inside the historic stadium. In 1946, Hicks Field played host to arguably one of the best games of that era as an Albemarle League all-star team faced off against a major league all star team composed of players from the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

, Washington Senators and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

. The Albemarle team was defeated but for the 4,500 in attendance they were treated to some of the best players in all of baseball. In 1997, Hicks Field underwent extensive renovations including a complete remodeling of the main grandstand behind home plate and the addition of two new grandstands; one down the first baseline and one down the third baseline as well. New bathrooms were built, as well as a manual wooden scoreboard that was placed in right field. Double decking the outfield fence in left field gave Hicks a "Fenway Park" feel. After all of the renovations were complete, Hicks Field grew in capacity to seat 1,200 people. In 1998, the

were formed in the new

summer collegiate baseball league. Hicks Field continues to host the Steamers, Edenton-Holmes high school baseball, American Legion Post 40 contests, and various tournaments in the summer. In 2004

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

rated Historic Hicks Field the #2 summer collegiate venue in the country.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Baseball venues in North Carolina Sports venues on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Works Progress Administration in North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Chowan County, North Carolina 1939 establishments in North Carolina Sports venues completed in 1939 High school baseball venues in the United States Minor league baseball venues