Chicago White Sox roots trace back to Sioux City

While ramping up to the majors, the league would bring along a number of teams, including the Sioux City Cornhuskers.

Following Western League championships in 1891 and 1894 (Sioux City didn't field a team in 1892 or 1893 for a variety of reasons), the team was purchased by former baseball player and manager Charles Comiskey, renamed the Saints and moved to St. Paul, Minnesota. When the Western League reorganized as the American League in 1900, Comiskey took the opportunity to move the team to Chicago, where he grabbed the White Stockings moniker that had recently been discarded by Chicago's National League franchise, who eventually became the Cubs. The White Stockings won the first American League championship in 1900, the league's last as a minor league.

Related: White Sox vs. White Sox

In 1901, the American League joined the National League as a major league, creating the basic league organization still seen in Major League Baseball today. The White Stockings repeated as American League champions in 1901, completing a decade of great success for the Cornhuskers-Saints-White Stockings franchise.

 

These and other treasured photographs can be found in the upcoming book, "Sioux City Memories."