Newburgh Gorhams

The Newburgh Gorhams were a nineteenth century team organized in New York City in 1886. They were named for their sponsor, saloon owner Alexander Gorham a friend of their organizer, Ambrose Davis. Mr. Davis is the first known African-American team owner in all of professional sports.

The Gorhams barnstormed around the northeast and played exhibition games that first year and then joined the new League of Colored Baseball Players in 1887 with teams from many big cities like Boston, Baltimore and Philadelphia. The league’s first game saw the Gorhams beat the Pittsburgh Keystones 11-8. The next season, the team’s manager, John “Bud” Fowler leased a home field for The Gorhams – in Newburgh. That old ballyard had been a local playing field that Newburghers called the Benkard Ball Grounds. New York newspapers described the site as “Benkard Heights.”