The Western Carolinas League was a Class D and a low Class A (1963–79) full-season league in American minor league baseball. The WCL changed its name prior to the 1980 season and has been known since as the South Atlantic League, a Class A circuit with teams up the Eastern Seaboard from Georgia to New Jersey.
Thomasville, North Carolina was home to several minor league baseball teams from 1937–1969.
The North Carolina State League was a Class D level league in Minor League Baseball. The original version of the league played from 1913 to 1917 as the successor to the Carolina Association. The second version of the league was established in 1937 in part in order to compete with the Piedmont-region independent league, the Carolina League, and ran through 1953 when it combined with the Western Carolina League to form the Tar Heel League.
The original Western Carolina League was a Class D circuit in Minor League Baseball which was ideated and created by John Henry Moss.
The Hickory Rebels were a Class D minor league baseball team based in Hickory, North Carolina, that played from 1939–1940, 1940, 1945–1954, 1960. The Rebels were the predecessor of the current Hickory Crawdads in the South Atlantic League.
The Carolina & Northwestern Railway (Ca&NW) was a railroad that served South Carolina and North Carolina from 1897 until January 1, 1974. The original line was operated by the Ca&NW as a separate railroad controlled by the Southern Railway until 1974 when the name was changed to the Norfolk Southern Railway. On June 1, 1982, Southern Railway and Norfolk and Western Railroad merged to form Norfolk Southern Railway. Choosing to use the name 'Norfolk Southern Railway' for the merger, in 1981, the original Ca&NW line along with original Norfolk Southern Railway was renamed Carolina and Northwestern once again. In the early 1950s several shortline subsidiaries of the Southern Railway were leased to the Ca&NW for operation, with these lines remaining a part of the Ca&NW into the 1980s.
The Charlotte metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as Metrolina, is a metropolitan area of the U.S. states of North and South Carolina, containing the city of Charlotte. The metropolitan area also includes the cities of Gastonia, Concord, Huntersville, and Rock Hill as well as the large suburban area in the counties surrounding Mecklenburg County, which is at the center of the metro area. Located in the Piedmont, it is the largest metropolitan area in the Carolinas, and the fourth largest in the Southeastern United States. The Charlotte metropolitan area is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States.
The Gastonia Cardinals were a minor league baseball team based in Gastonia, North Carolina on two separate occasions, playing as a minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals in both instances. The first Gastonia Cardinals team played as members of the Class D level North Carolina State League in 1938 and the Tar Heel League in 1939 and 1940, winning the 1939 league championship. Three decades later, the second Cardinals team played from 1977 to 1982 as members of the Class A level Western Carolinas League and its 1980 successor, the South Atlantic League. The Cardinals teams hosted home games from 1938 to 1940 at the Gastonia High School Stadium and subsequently at Sims Legion Park, which is still in use today.
The Carolina League was an "outlaw" professional baseball league in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. Drawing from the textile mills and milling towns in that region, the league was independent, meaning that it was not a part of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, the body that governed minor-league baseball during the league's lifetime. The Carolina League was the successor to the short-lived 1935 Carolina Textile League.
The Statesville Owls were a minor league baseball team located in Statesville, North Carolina. Statesville minor league teams played a member of the North Carolina Association (1900), Tar Heel League (1939–1940), North Carolina State League,, Tar Heel League (1953), Western Carolina League (1960–1962) and Western Carolinas League, winning three league championships.
The Concord Weavers were a minor league baseball team based in Concord, North Carolina. Between 1936 and 1951, Concord teams played as a member of the Independent level Carolina League from 1936 to 1938 and the Class D level North Carolina State League from 1939 to 1942 and 1945 to 1951, winning two league pennants and one championship. The franchise played as the Concord Nationals from 1949 to 1950 and Concord Sports in 1951, with Concord teams hosting minor league home games at Webb Field.
The Mooresville Moors were a minor league baseball team based in Mooresville, North Carolina. Between 1936 and 1953, the Mooresville Moors teams played as members of the 1936 Carolina League, the North Carolina State League from 1937 to 1942 and 1945 to 1952 before playing a final season in the 1953 Tar Heel League. The Mooresville Moors won six North Carolina State League Championships.
The Morganton Aggies were a minor league baseball team based in Morganton, North Carolina. From 1948 to 1952, the Aggies played exclusively as members of the Class D level Western Carolina League, winning the 1951 league pennant. Morgantown hosted home minor league games at the Morganton High School Park.
The Rutherford County Owls were a minor league baseball team based in the Rutherford County, North Carolina cities of Spindale, North Carolina and Forest City, North Carolina. Between 1936 and 1960, the Rutherford County based teams played as members of the 1936 Carolina League, the Western Carolina League from 1948 to 1952, Tar Heel League from 1953 to 1954 and Western Carolina League in 1960, winning the 1949 league championship and qualifying for the playoffs six other times. The franchise played as the Forest City Owls in the 1948 and 1953 seasons.
The Hendersonville Skylarks were a minor league baseball team based in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Hendersonville played an initial season in the 1904 Carolina Interstate League, before the Skylarks became members of the Class D level Western Carolina League in 1948 and 1949. The Skylarks hosted home games at the Western North Carolina Fairgrounds.
The Lenoir Red Sox were a minor league baseball team based in Lenoir, North Carolina. Between 1937 and 1951, Lenoir teams played as members of the 1937 and 1938 Carolina League, 1939 and 1940 Tar Heel League, 1946 and 1947 Blue Ridge League and the Western Carolina League from 1948 to 1951, winning three league championships. Lenoir teams hosted home minor league games at the Lenoir High School Field.
The Kannapolis Towelers were a minor league baseball team based in Kannapolis, North Carolina. From 1936 to 1941, the Towelers played as a member of the independent Carolina League from 1936 to 1938 and the Class D level North Carolina State League from 1939 to 1941, winning league pennants in 1937, 1939 and 1940. Kannapolis hosted minor league home games at the Kannapolis Ballpark.
The Albemarle Rockets were a minor league baseball teams based in Albemarle, North Carolina. In 1948, the Rockets played as members of the Class D level North Carolina State League, hosting home games at Morton Park.
The Newton–Conover Twins were a minor league baseball team based in Newton, North Carolina. The team was operated in partnership with neighboring Conover, North Carolina. Newton–Conover Twins teams played as members of the North Carolina State League in 1937 and 1938, Tar Heel League in 1939 and 1940 and the Western Carolina League from 1948 to 1951 and again from 1961 to 1963. The Twins played home minor league games in Newton, Carolina.
Minor league baseball teams were based in Lexington, North Carolina between 1937 and 1967. Lexington teams played as members of the Carolina League in 1936, North Carolina State League from 1937 to 1942 and 1945 to 1952, Tar Heel League in 1953 Western Carolina League from 1960 to 1961 and Western Carolinas League from 1963 to 1967. Lexington won two league championships.
