Thomas Bell Stadium
Americus, GA
Review by Mike
Thomas Bell Stadium in Americus, Georgia has been the home of several minor league baseball teams over the years; the Americus Phillies, Americus Cardinals, Americus Phillies and others, with the last professional team being the Americus Arrows of the independent Southeastern League in 2002. Built in 1938, funded by the WPA, Bell Stadium is notable not only for the history of minor league baseball, but for being one of the few remaining all-wooden stadiums in the United States.
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Even though the minor leagues were in residence on and off from 1938 thru 1954, the ballpark’s primary use was as the home field for Americus High School baseball, who claimed seven state championships over the years. With the recent closing of Americus High School, the future of this historic wooden structure is unclear. The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation has listed Thomas Bell Ballpark on its list of Places in Peril.
The ballpark itself appears to be in good shape. The old wooden structure is solid all the way around. The main seating area consists of wooden platforms where people sit on the front half of the platform, putting their feet on the back half of the platform just in front and below them. It’s the type of seating where people bring seat cushions or those “half seats”, which are basically seat cushions with backs, where your own weight holds the back in position.
A nice roof covers the entire seating area with wooden support pillars intermittently obstructing the view from the back half of the grandstand. There is no seating behind home plate, the space instead occupied by a two-story structure. The first floor has the concession stand and a pair of tunnels leading from the main gate to the seating bowl. The second floor has a press box that seems unnaturally large for this modest ballpark. Interestingly, there a single metal bench stationed behind home plate. Premium seating, perhaps?
The exterior of the structure is very interesting, with the entire building clad in wooden slats, with those behind the upper rows tilted on a diagonal to let a breeze pass through while protecting the crowd from the Georgia sun. The scoreboard in right-center is minimalist, with just score, inning, balls, strikes and outs, clearly not the original 1938 scoreboard, but clean and functional.
The entire seating area has been painted a bright blue, which is the primary color of the Americus High School Panther baseball team. It’s striking in its contrast from the usual forest green most favor. While the stadium structure appears well maintained, there are signs of neglect elsewhere. A small tree is growing in the visitor’s dugout, along with numerous vines descending from the dugout roof. Weeds are infiltrating the spaces along the backstop. Someone is still mowing the grass, but the integrity of the infield dirt is slipping.
Thomas Bell Ballpark is a treasure that deserves preservation and the good news is, there is still time to do that, but the longer its future remains uncertain, the more likely that the final outcome will not be a good one. 88-year-old wooden stadiums need constant care and attention, which is one of the reasons there are so few of them left. I hope the good people of Americus and Sumpter County recognize the historical significance of the stadium that they have in their charge and take the steps necessary to preserve it so that it can celebrate its 100th anniversary in the style it deserves.
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2026
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