Kingsport is a city of roughly 50,000 people located in northeastern Tennessee adjacent to the Holston River. It is the largest city in the Tennessee/Virginia’s “Tri-City” region, composing it, Johnson City, and Bristol.
Organized baseball has been present in the city since 1921, when the second Appalachian League chartered. Composed entirely of independent teams, the Kingsport Indians played in the city from 1921 until 1925, when the league contracted. The third Appalachian League was chartered in 1937, this time composed of unaffiliated and Level-D affiliated minor league teams. Kingsport fielded a team in the league starting in 1938, when the Kingsport Cherokees were chartered.