The formation of major leagues began in New York City on February 6 1876. The exact location was in the Grand Central Hotel. The executives came from various cities. They called this group of teams the National League.
League play began in April of 1876. The teams in the league were the following:
The Boston Red Caps.
The Chicago White Stockings
The Cincinnati Red Stockings
The Hartford Dark Blues
The Louisville Grays
The New York Mutuals
The Philadelphia Athletics
The Saint Louis Brown Stockings
Only the Chicago Team renamed to the Cubs in 1901 has played continuously from 1876 to the present time.
Chat with our AI personalities
The first Baseball team that openly paid all of its players was the Cincinnati Red Stockings, doing so in 1869. The first nationwide organization that attempted to set rules and team schedules was the National Association of Baseball Players, founded in 1871. Even today, neither Major League Baseball nor the Baseball Hall of Fame consider this to be a "major" league, although some do.
The National League -- an organization that continues to this day -- was founded in 1876.