Cotton States League

The Cotton States League was a minor league baseball league that played between 1902 and 1955. The Cotton States League formed on five separate occasions in its history. The first Cotton States League played from 1902 through 1908 as a Class D level league. After the league did not play in 1909, the Cotton States League was reformulated in 1910, with three of the six 1908 members returning for the new campaign and three new teams joining them. The league played for four seasons, through 1913 before being interrupted by World War I.

In 1922, the Cotton States League reformed after a nine-year hiatus. The 1923 league folded during the season on July 24, 1923, before resuming the next year. The league played for 11 seasons before folding on July 13, 1932, during the Great Depression.

The next revival of the Cotton States League took place in 1936, and the league played six seasons before folding, as many other minor leagues did when World War II began. This time, it operated as a Class C level league. Following the war, the league was resumed play in 1947 continuing play as Class C level league. The Cotton States League played through the 1955 season before permanently folding following its fifth incarnation in less than half a century. In 1953 the Cotton States League tried to evict the Hot Springs Bathers for attempting to include a black player, Jim Tugerson.