The small town of Crofton, Maryland has deep roots in the history of baseball cards dating back to the late 19th century. Some of the earliest baseball cards produced in America came out of Crofton during baseball’s infancy as a professional sport.
In the 1880s, Crofton was a rural farming community located just outside of Annapolis. Two brothers by the name of William and Jacob Hart operated a general store that sold goods to local farmers and residents. During this era, baseball was growing in popularity across the United States but was still in its early developmental stages as an organized professional sport.
William Hart was an avid baseball fan and collector of memorabilia related to the sport. In 1886, he got the idea to produce small paper cards featuring images of professional baseball players that he could sell in his store. These would be among the first baseball cards ever created with the intention of being collected. Hart worked with a local printer to produce a run of 50 cards featuring players from major league teams of the time like the Boston Beaneaters, New York Giants, and Philadelphia Phillies.
Each card measured approximately 2 inches by 3 inches and featured a small black and white illustration of a baseball player in his uniform along with their name, team, and position. Hart sold the packs of 5 cards for 5 cents per pack at his general store. They proved popular among the local children and baseball fans. Encouraged by the initial success, Hart had the printer produce more runs of cards over the next two seasons, increasing the number of players and teams featured with each new series.
Word of Hart’s baseball cards began to spread beyond Crofton. In 1888, a sporting goods manufacturer from Baltimore named Goodwin & Company approached Hart about mass producing and distributing the cards on a larger scale. They saw potential for the cards to gain popularity nationwide if more widely available. Hart struck a deal to license the concept to Goodwin & Company, who took over production and distribution of the cards across Maryland and into surrounding states.
This marked the transition of baseball cards from a small local novelty created in Crofton into one of the first major commercial baseball card sets. Goodwin & Company’s cards were sold in packs much like Hart’s originals but featured larger 7/8 inch by 1 1/4 inch images on thicker card stock. Production and distribution continued to expand over subsequent years. By the 1890s, baseball card sets were being found in general stores, drug stores, and tobacco shops across much of the United States.
While no examples of William Hart’s original 1886 Crofton baseball cards are known to still exist today, his innovative idea of creating collectible cards featuring professional baseball players helped lay the foundation for what would become a multibillion-dollar industry. The transition from Hart’s small local production to the mass produced Goodwin & Company sets marked a key turning point for baseball cards as both a commercial product and collectible hobby.
Through the late 19th and early 20th centuries, dozens of manufacturers entered the baseball card market, producing highly collectible sets that documented the evolution of the sport. Crofton itself remained an important regional hub for baseball cards well into the 1930s. Several printing companies based in Crofton produced regional baseball card sets during this time period focusing on minor league teams and amateur leagues throughout Maryland.
Some of the most coveted and valuable vintage baseball cards were produced in Crofton during this era, including rare promotional issues from the 1930 Maryland State League set. While production has long since left the town, Crofton maintains its place in history as one of the true birthplaces of the modern baseball card industry. The seeds planted by William Hart’s original 1886 cards helped grow baseball cards into a global collectibles phenomenon with enduring popularity to this day.
