BIRMINGHAM, Ala.- In celebration of Black History Month, we’re exploring untold stories of hidden history.
In the early days of Birmingham’s steel industry, industrial titan Rick Woodward built a state of the art ballpark in the shadows of the Birmingham steel mills.
Over a century later, Rickwood Field stands as America’s oldest ballpark.
“There’s nothing else like it left. Everything else has gone by the wayside,” says Clarence Watkins. “Was he baseball crazy or was he a good businessman? And the answer was he was both.”
The field was the home of the Birmingham Black Barons, the enterprise of African-American League Baseball in the South.
