Softball was started in Chicago in 1887 by George Hancock.  It was an indoor version of baseball because it was November and to cold to play outside.  Softball quickly became a very popular sport. 

On Thanksgiving 1887, a group gathered in The Farragut Boat Club to hear the outcome of the Harvard-Yale game.  To celebrate Yale's victory one of the men picked up a boxing glove and hit it with a pole.  George Hancock yelled lets play ball and now he is considered to be the one who invented softball.     

If Hancock had not been so fascinated in the game that they had played then, softball might never had become a sport.  In a week Hancock had made an oversized ball and an undersized bat. Hancock moved the game outdoors,  in 1888.  In 1889, do to the game's appeal Hancock published his first rules book.   

Even though Chicago is the birthplace of softball, it was also played in Minneapolis.  In1885, Lewis Rober Senior needed a game to keep his firemen in shape.  He made the game fit for a parking outside of their firehouse.  The result was appealing.  However, Rober was not familiar with Hancock's version.  They called the game Kitten League Ball, because it was the name of the firemen's group.  Later the name was shortened to kitten ball.     

By the 19th century softball had gone through many changes.  It  was called Townball, because each town had their own version, or Stickball.  Softball was now played all over the country.  Softball was often played during the Civil War.