The Nashville Athletic Club (NAC) was a sports club for young men founded in Nashville, Tennessee in 1884. The NAC was responsible for helping popularize the sports of baseball, football, basketball, athletics, gymnastics and swimming in the Nashville area. The NAC also featured a swimming pool, a gymnasium, Turkish and Russian baths and choice exercise equipment. It was based for some time at 520 Commerce Street in downtown Nashville.
Baseball
The NAC originally had the only regulation size baseball diamond in Nashville located at Sulpher Springs Bottom (later called Athletic Park, then Sulphur Dell).
Football
The NAC is believed to have played the first organized football game in Nashville on Thanksgiving Day, 1885 against the Nashville Football Club, winning 6-4 in a game played at Athletic Park. They lost their only recorded game against Vanderbilt in 1895, 20-4.
Basketball
The NAC also played some of the first organized basketball games in Nashville, forming the Nashville Athletic Club Basket Ball League in 1895. They played 13 recorded games against Vanderbilt between 1900 and 1909, winning 4 and losing 9.
Notes
- Doyle, D.H., New Men, New Cities, New South: Atlanta, Nashville, Charleston, Mobile, 1860-1910, p. 213, UNC Press (1990). ISBN 0-8078-4270-2
- Glickman, L.B., Consumer Society in American History: a reader, p. 225, Cornell University Press (1999). ISBN 0-8014-8486-3
- "Southern Regional Volleyball Association". Srva.org. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
- "Baseball Comes to Nashville". Nostalgiaville.com. Archived from the original on May 30, 2008. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
- "Vandy Football Began with a Challenge". CSTV.com. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
- "Friends of Metropolitan Archives of Nashville and Davidson County". Rootsweb.com. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
- "Vanderbilt Football Results". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
- "Era 7: 1890-1930 The Emergence of Modern America". Tennessee.gov. Retrieved 2007-03-20.
- "Vanderbilt Basketball Results". Rivals.com. Retrieved 2007-03-20.