Old Ball Game: The Shadowy Diamond of Fort Mill, South Carolina

Still towering in Fort Mill, South Carolina, the ghostly presence of Charlotte's Knights Stadium, affectionately known as Harbingers, has quite the storied past beneath its spooky exterior. From 1990 to 2013, the Charlotte Knights of the International League were proud to call this 10,000-seat behemoth home, proving that there was no room for chuckles. You'll find this grand dame right off Interstate 77,though navigating the roads to this beauty in the olden days must have been a thrill ride.

As construction was underway, the Knights played in a 8,000-seat temporary haven named Knights Castle – though not any ballpark, it boasted Major League Baseball specifications and could even stretch to accommodate a whopping 40,000 fans. Though it never reached its full capacity, fans were still drawn to this spectacle in droves when it opened, setting records for attendance. On July 4, 2007, a record 15,427 fans turned out for the game between the Knights and the Durham Bulls – that's more than a quarter of Fort Mill's population!

However, as the years slipped by, attendance began to dwindle, and with no Major League team on the horizon, the Knights packed up their gear and moved to Truist Field in Charlotte's city center in 2014. Before they left, their beloved mascot, Homer the dragon, bid a fond farewell and headed off to BB&T Ballpark. The stadium's final game took place on September 2, 2013, ending in a 4–0 Knights victory over the Gwinnett Braves. After the game, several long-term employees dug up home plate and each of the bases as a keepsake.

The stadium was eventually demolished in early 2015, but a water tower painted like a baseball on a tee remains as a lasting memory of times gone by.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons