Early baseball in Washington/Club 4
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| Spread of baseball: Home -> Washington -> Early baseball in Washington/Club 4 |
| Location | Washington |
|---|---|
| Year | 1879 |
| Month | 6 |
| Date | 24 |
| Note on date | Reported June 26, 1879 |
| City | Spokane |
| State | WA |
| Country | USA |
| Found by | Mark Brunke |
BASE BALL.-On last Tuesday evening a crowd of the active young men of the place met in the Times office to organize a base ball club. After listening to a speech from Mr. P. M. Corbaley, the meeting proceeded to business with C. A. Cole as chairman. Officers were elected as follows: President, Richard Wright; Secretary, Platte Corbaley; Treasurer, Clarence White. Capt's C. A. Cole and Archie Pease; Sampler, Charles Warner. A committee of three was appointed to select and prepare ground, so that practice for the Fourth should begin on the following evening. THere will be two nines that practicing can be done, and out of these a final nine will be selected to play important games.
According to "History of the City of Spokane", Platte Corbaley's family emigrated from Indiana, where there were early settlers of that area as well. Platte Corbaley was born around 1858, and later emigrated to Los Angeles in the early 1900's to start an orchard. In addition to baseball, he worked worked for the railroads and had been a Deputy Sherrif while in Spokane.
Spokane's population in 1880 is listed at about 350. (- Population is from the 1880 Census, page 59, volume 12. Washington Territory had a total population of only 75,116. Spokane as a city was less than 8 years old in 1879, although it had been a trading post as early as 1810. It was marginally occupied for several long periods. It finally experienced significant growth after the location of the intercontinental railroad through Spokane in 1883.)
Sources
Spokane Times, June 26, 1879
