The Chicago Cubs are having a wobbly season, but it's summer and
that means baseball! The game we know and love today developed
in the 1840s and 1850s. This photo was taken about 1885 and is
from the Museum's Lux Family Collection. By the Civil War in
1861, baseball was so popular it was being played by the
soldiers in prison camps, and five years later, baseball was
referred to as the national pastime. The rise of the game’s
popularity correlates with the rise of manufacturing jobs in the
United States. This economic boom increased the size of the
middle class and gave families more leisure time to play and
watch sports. U.S. Army Fort Sheridan baseball team on the
post's parade grounds, circa 1900. Grayslake baseball team,
1905. Pictured are Dr. William Clarke, A.A. McMillen, Rev.
Schultz, William Brandstetter, George Thomson, Fred Battershall,
R.W. Churchill, J.T. Morse, and George Fredericks. In Lake
County, Lake Forest Academy organized a team that played its
first game in 1867 against the Waukegan Amate