ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — An iconic tree closely tied to Atlanta’s baseball history has fallen.
The hulking magnolia, which sat almost in dead center field of the old historic Ponce de Leon Park – home of the Atlanta Crackers baseball team for decades – appeared to have blown over this week, though no one has confirmed if it was weather, age or something else that brought down the sports landmark.
The tree collected plenty of lore while it was the unique, in-play feature of the old ballpark but silently sat in an unassuming spot in the back of a shopping center for years after the park closed down and the team relocated.
In this image, you can see the young magnolia tree in center-right field. The tree was in play and sat about 500-feet from home plate.(WANF)
Ponce de Leon Park, also called Spiller Field, played host to the Atlanta Crackers between 1907 and 1964 and the Atlanta Black Crackers between 1920 and 1937 and 1940 to 1952. The Georgia Tech football team also played at the park under legendary coach John Heisman.
For many familiar with the tree’s history, it was a sad sight on Tuesday.
“It is definitely a hidden part of Atlanta history – this tree – but to baseball enthusiasts, they know what this tree means,” said Paul Crater with the Atlanta History Center. “It is such a unique trait of a ballpark to have a tree in play You certainly don’t see any trace of that now in today’s modern ballparks and haven’t for decades.”
All day, baseball fans stopped by the felled tree to pay respect to the unassuming character in Atlanta’s sports story. Some even grabbed a piece of the tree to salvage as a keepsake.
Sarah Chase and her family came all the way from Forsyth County to see the tree that played a big part of her family’s history, especially her dad’s own connection to the Crackers.
“He used to work at the old SEARS building across the street and they would come to the games,” Chase said. “It is a big piece of history.”
“I just hope this doesn’t put any bad juju on the Braves,” she joked.
In this image, you can see the young magnolia tree in center-right field. The tree was in play and sat about 500-feet from home plate.(WANF)
Patrick, a baseball fan who had stopped by earlier in the day to grab a sapling, did so with a good reason. He is friends with the owner of Spiller Park Coffee, a restaurant chain that owes its name to the ballfield where the magnolia once stood.
“The owner named his daughter Magnolia,” said Patrick. “So maybe he could propagate it in his backyard.”
Nick Purdy is co-president of Wild Heaven Beer and stopped by to grab a sapling.
“At Wild Heaven Beer, my partner Eric Johnson is a propagation physiologist, so we’re just hoping that maybe he could make something out of this,” said Purdy.
A historic photo of old Ponce de Leon Park, also called Spiller Field, during the Atlanta Cracker’s stint there that lasted from 1907 until 1964.(WANF)
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