Influential African Americans of Culpeper, VA – John Preston “Pete” Hill
February 10, 2025 Things to Do
Source: Right the Record
This month’s second spotlight in our Celebrate the Legacy of Culpeper, VA’s Influential African Americans series is John Preston “Pete” Hill.
John Preston “Pete” Hill, a prominent pre Negro and Negro League baseball player and manager, was born on October 12, likely in 1882, in Buena, Culpeper County, Virginia, to Ruben Hill and Elizabeth Seals. In the late 1880’s, Elizabeth Hill relocated with Pete and his two brothers to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pete began his professional baseball career in 1899 at the age of 17 with the Pittsburgh Keystones, one of the many all-Black teams that predated the establishment of the first Negro Baseball League.
Hill quickly established himself as a formidable power hitter. In 1919, he hit 28 home runs for the Detroit Stars, just one shy of Babe Ruth’s 29 that year, marking Hill as one of Black baseball’s earliest power-hitting stars.
In 1925, Hill retired from professional baseball at the age of 43. He spent the remainder of his life in Buffalo, New York, working as a porter for the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad.
Pete was inducted posthumously into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. At the time of his induction, he was listed as Joseph Hill born in Pittsburgh, PA. Through the efforts of baseball enthusiasts, his great nephew and the detailed research of Zann Nelson, the Hall of Fame corrected the errors and changed his plaque. In 2022, Pete Hill was the first African American to have his portrait displayed in the Culpeper County Circuit Court.
Learn more about John Preston “Pete” Hill.
