Rickwood Field is the oldest surviving professional baseball park in the United States. It was built for the Birmingham Barons in 1910 by industrialist and team-owner Rick Woodward and served as the home park for the Barons and for the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues. The Barons moved their home games to the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in 1987. Since then, Rickwood Field has been preserved and is undergoing continual restoration.

The Birmingham Coal Barons baseball team began playing professionally in 1887, with their home games at an informal park called "Slag Pile Field" in West End. In 1901 they joined the Southern Association.  As of 2005, the Friends of Rickwood had spent around $2 million refurbishing the grandstands, pressbox, locker rooms, roof and main entrance to the park. In December 2007 Birmingham mayor Larry Langford said he wanted to begin discussing the creation of a Negro and Southern Leagues Hall of Fame celebrating the contributions of African-Americans to the sport of baseball. In April 2009 he unveiled a proposal for a $7.5 million project that would include construction of the museum, additional renovations to the historic ballpark, and a skywalk connecting the two.