Pittsfield Baseball Ordinance

Background. The town of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, adopted a town bylaw in 1791 that prohibited the playing of baseball near the town's new meeting house. The supplied source identifies this measure as the first known American reference to the game, indicating that baseball was being played in the community by that time and that town authorities sought to keep it away from the meeting house.

The Ordinance. The first known American reference to baseball appears in a 1791 Pittsfield, Massachusetts town bylaw. The measure prohibited the playing of the game near the town's new meeting house, indicating that baseball was being played in the community by that time and that town authorities sought to keep it away from the meeting house.

Significance. The bylaw is significant as the earliest documented American mention of baseball, predating the reports of uncodified bat-and-ball games recognizable as early forms of baseball played around North America by the early 1830s. The supplied source does not record the ordinance's precise day, the 80-yard distance, or the ordinance's full text.