Nashville Athletic Club

The Nashville Athletic Club (NAC) was a sports club for young men founded in Nashville, Tennessee in 1884.[1] The NAC was responsible for helping popularize the sports of baseball, football, basketball, athletics, gymnastics and swimming in the Nashville area. The NAC also featured a swimming pool, a gymnasium, Turkish and Russian baths and choice exercise equipment.[2] It was based for some time at 520 Commerce Street in downtown Nashville.[3]

Baseball

The NAC originally had the only regulation size baseball diamond in Nashville located at Sulpher Springs Bottom (later called Athletic Park, then Sulphur Dell).[4]

Football

The NAC is believed to have played the first organized football game in Nashville on Thanksgiving Day, 1885 against the Nashville Football Club,[5] winning 6-4 in a game played at Athletic Park.[6] They lost their only recorded game against Vanderbilt in 1895, 20-4.[7]

Basketball

The NAC also played some of the first organized basketball games in Nashville, forming the Nashville Athletic Club Basket Ball League in 1895.[8] They played 13 recorded games against Vanderbilt between 1900 and 1909, winning 4 and losing 9.[9]

Notes
  1. Doyle, D.H., New Men, New Cities, New South: Atlanta, Nashville, Charleston, Mobile, 1860-1910, p. 213, UNC Press (1990). ISBN 0-8078-4270-2
  2. Glickman, L.B., Consumer Society in American History: a reader, p. 225, Cornell University Press (1999). ISBN 0-8014-8486-3
  3. "Southern Regional Volleyball Association". Srva.org. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
  4. "Baseball Comes to Nashville". Nostalgiaville.com. Archived from the original on May 30, 2008. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
  5. "Vandy Football Began with a Challenge". CSTV.com. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
  6. "Friends of Metropolitan Archives of Nashville and Davidson County". Rootsweb.com. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
  7. "Vanderbilt Football Results". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
  8. "Era 7: 1890-1930 The Emergence of Modern America". Tennessee.gov. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
  9. "Vanderbilt Basketball Results". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
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