Is Cannonsburgh Village Going to Become Another Sports Field?

Murfreesboro loves its sports, from the teams at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) to the many teams that come to the city for various championships. Now, there is talk about tearing down Cannonsburgh to make way for a baseball field or building the field up against the historic area for a new AA league team. More than 2,000 local residents have signed a petition to keep the historic site that is a living museum.

Built in 1976, Cannonsburgh Village was a Bicentennial project. It was the idea of the late Mayor W.H. Westbrooks. MTSU’s Dr. James K. Huhta of the Historic Preservation program played a key role in pulling the project together, which included moving a number of historic buildings from around the county to create the village.

“Cannonsburgh was the original name of Murfreesboro,” according to rutherfordtnhistory.com. “It was named in honor of Newton Cannon, a rising Williamson County politician and veteran of the Creek War. He would later become Tennessee’s first Whig governor. The little village’s name changed to Murfreesborough about 30 days later at the request of Col. William Lytle, who donated land for the Public Square, a community cemetery, and its adjacent First Presbyterian Church. Lytle asked that the town be renamed to honor his friend Col. Hardy Murfree.”

It has played home to or plays home to Uncle Dave Macon Days, Harvest Days, Pioneer Days and many other celebrations, as well as weddings in the small chapel on site. It is the home to the Murfreesboro Art League, the Rutherford County Blacksmith Association, the Lions Club, and Stones River Car Club. Buildings in the village include a gristmill, a schoolhouse, a telephone operator’s house, the University House, the Leeman House, a museum, a caboose, the Wedding Chapel, a doctor’s office, a general store, a blacksmith’s shop, and the World’s Largest Cedar Bucket. All of them were built between 1800 and 1900.

Anyone who has spent time on the grounds knows that it is a special place. Developers and city leaders want to tap into that specialness. They…”believe downtown, with its fast-changing landscape of new restaurants and small businesses, is ideal location for a team in the expanding independent league American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) https://aabaseball.com/ an independent league and a partner league with Major League Baseball (MLB),” according to murfreesborotn.gov.

Developers of the AA-franchise and the Commissioner of the American Association, Josh Schaub, presented a proposal to a workshop meeting of the Murfreesboro City Council. Jason Rose, Principal of Rose+Allyn Public and Online Relations based in Scottsdale, Arizona, outlined plans for the team and league expansion. City leaders believe Murfreesboro is a great place for a Double A level baseball franchise.

According to the city’s website, a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding outlines a potential timeline for professional baseball coming to Murfreesboro. Initiation of the project will include a feasibility study for the development of a sports facility and an economic impact study outlining the benefits of the project.

“There is no scenario in which we would proceed with a new facility that would do anything but work with and complement Cannonsburgh Village,” said Rose. We view its beautiful setting and buildings as a wonderful neighbor and asset to celebrate in conjunction with anything we may try to do in the downtown area. I applaud citizens stepping forward to express their love for Cannonsburgh. If it works with designers and engineers, we envision preserving and enhancing the Cannonsburgh Village history while bringing baseball to Historic Downtown.“