A wooden grandstand was built in 1885 to accommodate patrons of the Nashville Americans, who were charter members of the original Southern League.

Several other professional baseball teams followed the Americans, but the ballpark's longest tenant was the Southern Association's Nashville Vols, who played there from 1901 to 1963.

The stadium's original alignment, in which home plate faced southwest toward the Capitol, meant that batters would often have to compete with the afternoon sunlight shining in their eyes.

Prior to the 1927 season, the ballpark was demolished and rebuilt as a concrete-and-steel structure on the southwestern side of the block with home plate facing northeast.

In its prime, Sulphur Dell was nestled in an area that was home to the city's garbage dump, stockyards, and other various warehouses.

Archaeologists believe the area was the site of a Native American settlement dating to the early Mississippian period (c. 1150 AD).

[8] Early settlers knew the site as French Lick Springs, a bottomland, or dell, which they used for trading and watering.

[13] On November 7, club directors signed a five-year contract to lease the baseball grounds at Sulphur Spring Bottom on which they would build a ballpark.

[14] The land had hitherto been little more than solely a baseball field and required significant improvements to make it suitable for a professional team.

[16] A brick-and-cement dyke was built between Cherry and Summer Streets (Fourth and Fifth Avenue North) to hold back the spring water.

[3] During construction, workers unearthed artifacts including bowls, shells, a flint chisel, and human skeletons believed to belong Native American Mound Builders.

[3][7] The main Jackson Street entrance led past the ticket booth and into the grandstand's reserved seats behind home plate and a screen backstop.

[1] By late March 1885, construction was behind schedule,[18] and additional men were brought in to expedite work in advance of the team's spring exhibition games.

[19] In the first such game held at the not-yet-completed ballpark, the Americans were defeated by the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the minor Western League, 8–4, on March 30.

[23][24] As charter members of the Southern League, the Nashville Americans played their regular season home opener on May 4 against the Columbus Stars.

In the top of the first, Nashville's Joe Werrick hit a two-RBI triple scoring James Hillery and John Cullen, but these were to be their only runs of the game.

Tied 2–2 in the fifth, a bad throw allowed Columbus' Joe Strauss to score the winning run for the visitors.

[26] On May 30, Toad Ramsey of the visiting Chattanooga Lookouts pitched a no-hitter against Nashville in a game where only three locals reached base, two via walks and one on an error.

In preparation for the Tigers' 1893 season, additional seating was added to the west (first base) side of the grandstand, and the fences were repaired.

[38] This brought the total seating capacity to around 1,000, which consisted of about 500 opera chairs, some in private boxes near the front, and third base bleachers along Fourth Avenue.

[45] Fifty-four large electric lights were placed around Athletic Park to illuminate the field, and the baseball was covered with phosphorus to aid visibility.

[44] Adding to the novelty of a night game, players marched onto the field wearing burlesque costumes that included ballet outfits, loud suits, dresses, wigs, and bonnets.

[46] The estimated 4,000 fans in attendance were entertained by antics such as base runners leading fielders on a chase through dark regions of the outfield and climbing up a light pole to avoid being tagged out.

[49] Billy Work, manager of the Central League's Nashville Centennials, was desirous of building a new ballpark for the team, but eventually settled on making repairs to the existing facility.

[58] Nashville Tennessean sportswriter Grantland Rice started referring to the ballpark as Sulphur Spring Dell in 1908.

[60] The original grandstand at Sulphur Dell was situated with home plate facing the southwest toward the Tennessee State Capitol building.

After the 1926 season, the entire ballpark was demolished and rebuilt as a concrete-and-steel structure with home plate facing northeast along Fourth Avenue North.

[7] The ballpark was nicknamed "Suffer Hell" by fielders who had to navigate the treacherous outfield,[65] as well as by pitchers who frequently watched home runs disappear over the short fences.

[57] The Vols had joined the Double-A South Atlantic League after the Southern Association folded after the 1961 season and the team was inactive in 1962.

[83] In the ballpark's inaugural game, the Sounds defeated the visiting Colorado Springs Sky Sox, 3–2, in 10 innings.