History

Wims Baseball Field
  • In the 1930s Jim Wims owned a 175 acre farm along Hyattstown Mill Road near where the road crosses Ballfield Tributary.
  • Wims’ sons, who were black, needed a field where they and their friends could play baseball so he offered them the use of land on his farm.
  • Before long, the field achieved prominence by being the homefield for the first organized African American baseball team in Montgomery County hosting local teams such as the Bluebirds and Wildcats.
  • The Wims teams gained renown for the quality of their play. Dona Cutler in her excellent history of the area reported that the Wildcats recorded an undefeated season one year (37 wins, 0 losses) and that two of its members - Sonny Jackson and Chuck Henton - became professional ballplayers.
  • You can access the former ballfield by parking at the Kingsley Lot, and then crossing Clarksburg Road and walking about 1/2 mile along the former Hyattstown Mill Road gravel road.
Wims Meadow, site of historic basefall field
in Little Bennett Park
Ballfield at Wims Meadow, home field of prominent
early African-American baseball teams