John Henry Moss was a native of Cleveland County, North Carolina, growing up in the Town of Kings Mountain. In the 1940s, Mr. Moss played minor league baseball prior to joining the army in which he served as a bodyguard to General Ira T. Wyche during World War II. Upon returning to Kings Mountain in 1947, Mr. Moss established the Western Carolina League, a semi-pro baseball league in small towns in Western North and South Carolina. The League was approved for membership in the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues within the same year. Mr. Moss became the youngest person elected President of a professional baseball league taking the Western Carolina League from semi-pro to professional status.
Between 1950 and 1958, John Henry Moss moved north and worked as a general manager for minor league teams in the Detroit Tigers’ system. Upon his return to Kings Mountain in 1959, Mr. Moss was recruited to re-organize the Western Carolina League (which became known as the South Atlantic League in 1979) serving as its first president from 1959 until 2007. Under Mr. Moss’s vision and leadership, the South Atlantic League brought professional baseball to 43 cities (represented by 115 ownerships) which enabled the league to grow to 16 clubs in eight states. By stressing the importance of quality, wholesome, family, entertainment at an affordable price, stadiums hit an all-time league record attendance of 3,862,077 fans in 2007.
In December of 2007, Mr. Moss stepped down as President of the South Atlantic League. As President Emeritus, Mr. Moss was in the process of developing a permanent home for the South Atlantic League Hall of Fame which has already inducted over 79 people at the time of his death. To recognize John Henry Moss’s fifty-year contribution to baseball, the South Atlantic League retired #50 throughout the league, an honor previously accorded only to Jackie Robinson. Stadiums across the Southeast erected bronze plaques to honor Mr. Moss’s successful efforts.
Through the years, Mr. Moss accumulated countless regional and national awards and recognitions. Included among his achievements was his selection into five Halls of Fame, among them the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, the North Carolina American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame, the Kings Mountain Sports Hall of Fame, and the Cleveland County Sports Hall of Fame. He was named as the King of Baseball at the baseball winter meetings in Los Angeles in 1990. He also was an inaugural member in the South Atlantic League Hall of Fame.
In addition to his league responsibilities, John Henry Moss served as the Mayor of Kings Mountain from 1965-1989, during which time he earned national recognition for securing more than $40 million in federal grants. Newsweek magazine called him the “mayor with the Midas touch.” Moss Lake was established in 1974 as a reservoir for the City of Kings Mountain, North Carolina. It was named for the long-serving Kings Mountain Mayor who led the drive to establish and manage the development of the man-made lake.
Mr. Moss’s business activities included the Moss Dixon Block Company, John Moss and Associates, Inc. and the Consortium for Progress, Inc. Mr. Moss was Owner and Publisher of the Cleveland Times newspaper and Vice President of the International Safety Company, Inc. He also directed sports tournaments in baseball, basketball, the Western Carolinas Horse Show, and the Rib Mountain Hill Climb racing, sponsored by the Road America Auto Racing Club. Prior to his death, John Moss served as President of the Cleveland County Sports Commission Inc. The commission brought North Carolina AAU summer sports games to Cleveland County in May, 2009. A number of activities took place on the campus of Gardner Webb University with approximately 3100 athletes participating in the games.
Assisting Mr. Moss throughout most of his career was his loving wife, the late Elaine Caroline Beilke Moss. Elaine served as Director of Administration for the South Atlantic League and was honored on November 10, 1990 when she received the South Atlantic League’s Distinguished Achievement Award. She was inducted into the South Atlantic League Hall of Fame in 1994, and was active in community events while serving as First Lady of Kings Mountain for more than two decades.
