If you could name the new baseball/softball fields going in behind Dunbar Street in Kingsport's Riverview Community, what would you name them?
Just about everybody in the neighborhood, whether resident or Douglass alumnus, who has expressed an opinion on the new ballfields, have said the name "Clay Hill" needs to be in the title somewhere. The move would be to honor "Clay Hill: Riverview's Unofficial Playground" that we all enjoyed in the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's, growing up. As you remember, it was the only place that African-American children could play back then. Some of us were run off from the white playgrounds, and when that word got back home, the only place that black children could go and play was Clay Hill. Yes, it was private property owned by General Shale (the "brickyard), but that made it all the more attractive and alluring to us kids.
Nobody else in Kingsport knew about our love affair with the area we called "Clay Hill" while growing up. Even though our parents forbade us from going up there, we all did anyway. The fun we all had, was both phenomenal and memorable.
Nobody is asking us, but if you had a choice, what would you name the ballfields being constructed on our former playground?
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