Now that springtime is upon us and baseball season is underway, we thought it would be a good time to share this historic photo of the 1940 Beacon Blanketeers championship baseball team. The Blanketeers played in the Industrial League, and fielded some very talented teams, with professional-quality athletes drawn from the ranks of Beacon’s mill employees. The Blanketeers home field was located in Beacon Village, on the site of what is now a Habitat for Humanity community. If you listen very carefully, you may still be able to hear the crack of the bats and the roar of the crowds . . . . Photo courtesy of Pack Library’s North Carolina collection.

To read a Rob Neufeld “Visiting Our Past” Asheville Citizen-Times article about the Beacon Blanketeers, click here.