Why The NFL Hall Of Fame Is In Canton, Ohio

Ralph Hay, the Canton auto dealer who hosted the 1920 meetings, sold Hupmobiles (a brand of American cars made by the Hupp Motor Car Company that went belly up in 1940) and owned the professional football team the Canton Bulldogs. At the meetings, he and George Halas of the Decatur Staleys, Jim Thorpe, the Olympic athlete and professional baseball and football player, and several other owners hashed out the details for what they dubbed the American Professional Football Association. They changed the name to the National Football League two years later.

They named Thorpe the league's first president. In the original makeup, Ohio had the most teams at five. Illinois had four, Indiana and New York had two, and Michigan had one. Since the meetings took place in Canton, the city eventually claimed the title "the Cradle of Pro Football." The city's residents took the claim seriously and raised the equivalent today of around $4 million in 90 days to help build the Hall of Fame.

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