1892 was the first year in Charlotte's long sports history to have a team with the name "Hornets".  C.R. Kookogey of Baltimore, Maryland, offered to field a club in Charlotte for the 1892 season, and there was an exhibition game in late march between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Columbia Senators. The ballpark was called Latta Park, or as the newspapers called it Latta Base Ball Park, likely to not confuse the reader with the much larger park built by Edward Dilworth Latta. Latta Park included a shooting range, dance hall, bowling alley, and among other attractions, a baseball grandstand.

When the 1892 season was underway the Hornets roster included players like former NL Baltimore Oriole Edward T "Nick" Scharf, (left photo) and played against clubs like the Winston-Salem Blue Sluggers. The 1892 Hornets first game was at the Charleston Sea Gulls in South Carolina. The game ended up being a loss for Charlotte, with the score at 13-3.

After a 4-14 start in the season, Kookogey and Hornets player captain Kurtz, left the ball club. Tom Garibaldi became the club's new manager, but because of various financial reasons, the South Atlantic League of which Charlotte was a part of, folded in June. The Hornets finish their only season in the 19th century with a 10-23 record. Latta Park would later get some new improvements. A bicycle racetrack, a horse-racing course, a large grandstand, a football field, and a new baseball diamond would open on September 9, 1897.

In 1901, Hornets baseball was back in Charlotte, this time in the North Carolina League, when the 

Newport News Shipbuilders of the Virginia-North Carolina League relocated to the Queen City on June 21, 1901. This brand new Hornets club would play in the North Carolina League, and late the Virginia-North Carolina League. Like the 1892 club, the 1901 Hornets club would play in Latta Base Ball Park, with a new roster of players like former Shipbuilders Win Clark, Buck Hooker, and Champ Osteen (right photo). The club was managed by Win Clark, and later Edward "Ed" Ashenbach, and would play against clubs like the Raleigh Senators and Wilmington Giants. The Hornets ended up finishing the season with a 32-26 record when the league disbanded on August 17, 1901.

For the 1902 season, the Charlotte Athletic Association was formed to run the Hornets, and local lumber merchant J.H. Wearn was elected as the president of the association. The Hornets were again

managed by Ed Ashenbach, and his son was the Hornets mascot. The roster included players like Champ

Osteen, and Archibald "Moonlight" Graham. The Hornets played in the North Carolina League, and

eventually became league champions, finishing the season with a 39-8 record, but due to poor attendance

and the expense of traveling by train to away games, the Hornets were forced to withdraw from the league.

Charlotte Hornets baseball would return to the Queen City in 1905, playing in the Virginia-North Carolina League. The club was managed by Charles Kain, and hosted a roster of players such as Pat Newnam and Willy Fetzer. The Hornets would play against clubs like the Greensboro Farmers and the Danville Tobacconists. The 1905 club finished the season in second place with a 40-42 record, 11 1/2 games behind the Tobacconists. 

The first game at the brand new J.H. Wearn field was on April 20, 1908, at 4pm against the

Spartanburg Spartans. Then Charlotte mayor T.S. Franklin, who used to play baseball, threw out the first pitch at the new ballpark for the start of a brand new season. The left image of a cooperstown 1918 Cleveland Spiders hat gives an idea of what a 1908 Hornets hat may have looked like. Throughout the season, Dilworth street cars would advertise the Hornets ball games on their trolleys. The 1908 Hornets were managed by Jesse Reyonalds, had a roster with players such as Bill Hunter and Wiley Piatt. The Carolina Association club fared poorly, finishing the season 5th in the 6 team league, with a 40-47 record.