Game Glossary Term Edit: Round Town (Round Town Ball)

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Game Families

Baseball Safe-Haven games featuring running among bases, a bat, pitching, and two distinct teams. Kickball Safe-Haven games featuring running among bases, pitching, and two distinct teams (but no batting). Scrub Safe-Haven games featuring running among bases, pitching, and a bat (but no teams). Fungo Games featuring batting/hitting (but no baserunning). Hat ball Games featuring baserunning and/or plugging (but no batting). Hook-em-snivy Games for which the rules of play are not known and, and some that are commonly encountered by researchers but that are not safe-haven games (including shinty, bandy, and stow-ball).

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Game Family:	FungoBaseballHat ballHook-em-snivyKickballScrub
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Regions:	US  Britain  Europe  Rest of World
Eras:	1700s  1800s  Contemporary  Derivative  Post-1900  Pre-1700  Predecessor
Invented:
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Description:	<p>Round Town (also found as 'round-town,' or 'Round Town Ball') has been found in a handful of sources listed below.&nbsp; It appears to have been played at times from the 1850s-1890s in locations outside the northeast US:</p> <p>[A] "In rural Virginia the ball game of choice was known as round-town, a sport that was "well understood and much enjoyed by every country boy, though only a few of their city cousins know the first rudiments of it."&nbsp;</p> <p>--</p> <p>[B] As played in Eastern PA in the 1850s,&nbsp;<strong>Round Town</strong> is recalled as having four or five bases or &ldquo;safety spots,&rdquo; tagging instead of plugging, the fly rule, the sharing of bases by multiple runners, and a bat made of a rail or clap-board. A game &ldquo;similar to baseball&rdquo; recalled as being played by school boys in 1891 in a grove of trees in Beech Grove, Kentucky.</p> <p>---</p> <p>[C] Another game called <strong>Round Town</strong> is described as follows:</p> <p><span>An Old Virginia Ball Game</span><br /><br /><span>Mount Crawford, a town in Rockingham County, Va., was the scene of a novel </span><span>ball game on, January 13 last, the occasion being a contest at the old </span><span>Virginia game of ball known as "Round Town, " the weather being unusually </span><span>mild for winter.</span><br /><br /><span>This game is well understood and is much enjoyed by every country boy, though&nbsp;</span><span>only a very few of their city cousins know the first rudiments of it.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><br /><span>Forty-four men and boys were engaged in the game mentioned above, and they</span><span> were the best throwers, surest catchers, and hardest strikers of the two </span><span>neighborhoods. A large sized crowd watched with unabating interest the </span><span>movements of the game. </span></p> <p><span>The game of <strong>round-town</strong> is played in this manner: Two&nbsp;</span><span>sides are formed, the number of players of the division being equal. Four </span><span>bases are used and are placed in the same manner as if they were being fixed&nbsp;</span><span>for a game of baseball, although men are only placed in the positions of the&nbsp;</span><span>pitcher, catcher, and first baseman, the rest of the players being scattered&nbsp;</span><span>in the field where they think the ball is most apt to be knocked. The first&nbsp;</span><span>batsman on the opposing side takes his place at the plate, and he has in his&nbsp;</span><span>hand a paddle an inch or two thick, and in which only one hand is used ins </span><span>striking. The pitcher delivers a solid gum ball with all the swiftness </span><span>attainable, the use of the curve never being thought of, and it is therefore </span><span>very seldom that a "strike out" occurs. The batter hits the ball at the </span><span>first opportunity and endeavors to drive it over the heads of the opponents, </span><span>for if it is caught on the fly or the first bound the runner is called out, </span><span>and also if it is begotten to the first baseman before the runner arrives at </span><span>the base. Should the runner reach first base safely he can continue to run </span><span>to the other bases if he wishes, but his opponents have the privilege of </span><span>hitting him with the ball, and as it is very painful to be struck with a gum </span><span>ball, the runner is very cautious, and if he is struck he is counted out of </span><span>the game, although should he reach any of the other bases he is safe.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span>Another batsman appears and if he makes a safe hit with the ball the runners </span><span>can continue to move until stopped from fear of being hit with the ball. In </span><span>case a man is on second base and a ball is knocked and caught on the fly or </span><span>first bound, the runner must stay at the base until the ball is returned to </span><span>the pitcher. Each side has only one inning and that continues until every </span><span>man has made out: therefore if a man makes an out at the first time at the </span><span>bat he is disqualified to play until all on his side have done likewise, then </span><span>they take the field. If a player makes the circuit safely it is called a run.</span><br /><br /><span>The result of the contest was the success of the Mt. Crawford twenty-two by a&nbsp;</span><span>score of 104 runs to 90, the contest occupying the whole afternoon.</span></p> <p><span>---<br /></span></p> <p><span>[D]&nbsp; In February 2016, Bill Hicklin added:<br /></span></p> <p>I found two references to Virginia "<strong>round-town</strong>," both from Dickinson County, Virginia (in the Appalachian coal country).&nbsp; They come from <span style="text-decoration: underline;">School and Community History of Dickenson County, Virginia</span> (ed. Dennis Reedy), a compilation of articles published over many years in the local paper, which were themselves based on a series of oral-history interviews conducted at the behest of the school superintendant with senior and retired Dickenson teachers.</p> <p>&nbsp;[1] William Ayers Dyer: "I was born May 10, 1880 at Stratton, Dickenson County, Virginia and started to school to Johnson Skeen at the Buffalo School in 1885 when I was 5 years old... The games we played at the Buffalo were straight town, <strong>round town</strong>, base, bull pen and antnee over." (Bull pen was dodgeball, but played with a baseball. Ouch!)</p> <p>&nbsp;[2]Hampton Osborne (b. 1894): "'<strong>Round-town'</strong> and 'straight-town' were popular games. Round-town had four bases in a circle, as baseball does today. If the batter was caught or crossed-off both ways, he was out. Straight-town had four bases in a row and you used the same rules as round-town.</p> <p><span>---&nbsp;</span></p> <p>[E]&nbsp; Bruce Allardice contributed:</p> <p>"There are several newspaper mentions in the late 1800s of "round town" by people who claimed to have played it as a boy:</p> <p>Easley (SC)&nbsp;<em>Messenger</em>, May 2, 1884. W. P. Price (1846-1940) claimed to have played "round Town" and "cat" as a boy at Holly Springs Academy</p> <p>Piqua (OH)&nbsp;<em>Daily Call</em>, Aug. 22, 1891: J. P. Smith of Urbana, OH says he played "round town" and "bull pen" as a boy.</p> <p>Edina (MO) Sentinel, Aug. 5, 1886: writer played "round town" as a boy.</p> <p>Greenleaf&nbsp;<em>Sentinel</em>, Nov. 11, 1887. when writer was a boy we used to play "round town," "three cornered cat" and "bull pen." Similar, Smithfield (NC)&nbsp;<em>Herald</em>&nbsp;Aug. 17, 1917.</p> <p>Scranton&nbsp;<em>Tribune</em>, May 8, 1899. Writer talks of boys playing "Round Town Ball and Two Holy Cat."</p> <p>Philadelphia&nbsp;<em>Times</em>, Aug. 3, 1890 has a long article with a complete description of Round Town Ball, as it was played in Perry County.</p> <p>Old-time "round, or town ball" played. Warren (PA)&nbsp;<em>Democrat</em>, July 9, 1895.</p> <p>Asheville&nbsp;<em>Gazette-News</em>, Aug. 9, 1913: "afore the war" the "darkies" played "round town ball from which the [game of] baseball originated."</p> <p>New Philadelphia&nbsp;<em>Times</em>, June 13, 1910 claims Cy Young played "round town" ball and three cornered cat as a youth.</p> <p>Bucyrus (OH)&nbsp;<em>Evening Telegraph</em>. Aug. 18, 1915 says there will be a game of round town ball at a picnic. Ditto Jackson (OH)&nbsp;<em>Center News</em>, Oct. 15, 1920; Dresden (TN)&nbsp;<em>Enterprise</em>, Dec. 4, 1914; Wilkes-Barre&nbsp;<em>Times Leader</em>, Sept. 5, 1908; Harrisonburg (VA)&nbsp;<em>Evening News</em>, Dec. 5, 1899, March 15, 1909.</p> <p>Doney, "Cheerful Yesterdays" p. 67 says he learned to play RTB and others c. 1877.</p> <p>Prokopowicz, "All for the Regiment" p. 85 quotes a Feb. 7, 1862 diary entry from a soldier in Co. C, 17th Ohio saying the soldiers play RTB in their spare time.</p> <p>Pleasant's "History of Crawford County, Indiana" (1926) says that c. 1840, the boys played three cornered cat, round town ball, long town ball, bat ball and baseball.</p> <p>"Punxsatawney Centennial, 1849-1949" p. 22 says c. 1870 the boys played RTB and long town ball."</p> <p>-- Bruce Allardice</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">&nbsp;<strong>What Protoball Knows, May 2023</strong></span></p> <p>Note that our sources now extend to MD, NC, OH, PA, SC, and VA,&nbsp; as of May 2023.&nbsp;</p> <p>Known reports of Round Town appear to run to the end of the 19th Century.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p><span>&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span>&nbsp;</span></p>
Sources:	<p><span>[A] Peter Morris,&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;">But Didn't We Have Fun: An Informal History of Baseball's Pioneer Era, 1843-1870</span> (Ivan Dee, Chicago, 2008), pp.16-18.&nbsp; For data on 12 names of predecessor games, see the book's index entry for 'Rival Bat-and-Ball', page 282.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span>[B] J. Lambert and H. Reinhard,&nbsp;</span><em>A History of Catasaqua in Lehigh County</em><span>&nbsp;(Searle and Dressler, Allentown, 1914), page 364.:&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>William F. Mason,&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Journal of William Franklin Mason</span>, completed in 1954; from&nbsp;<a href="http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ky/elliott/mason/mason29.txt">http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ky/elliott/mason/ mason29.txt</a>,&nbsp;accessed 2/24/2008.</p> <p><span>[C] New York Clipper January 1866. 19CBB post 2/2/2002 by John Freyer</span></p> <p><span>[D]&nbsp; Email from Bill Hicklin, February 6, 2016, citing D. Reedy, ed., <span style="text-decoration: underline;">School and Community History jof Dickenson County, Virginia </span>[1994]<br /></span></p> <p><span>[E] Bruce Allardice, contributions to Protoball, (date lost).</span></p>
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Comment:	<p>See also<strong> [[Straight Ball]].</strong></p> <p>Note that our sources now extend to MD, NC, OH, PA, SC, and VA,&nbsp; as if May 2023.&nbsp; The latest reports appear to extent to the end of the 19th Century.</p> <p>One form of the game [see item [B] above] has a rule variant that , as of 2023, appears to be in unique for US base-running games: that more than one runner can occupy a base at the same time.&nbsp; Multiple base-running is known in some Scandinavian games and in (two-base) Russian lapta and, maybe, in iona in Romania.&nbsp;</p> <p>The "old Virginia Ball Game" article is from Walden's Monthly Magazine of April 1894, in an article written by Henry Chadwick. [ba]</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p> <p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p> <p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
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