Kewanee Boilermakers T-Shirt

Minor league baseball began in Kewanee, Illinois when the 1908 Kewanee "Boilermakers" became charter members of the Class D level Central Association, with Kewanee fielding a minor league baseball team for the first time. Kewanee was joined by the Burlington Pathfinders, Keokuk Indians, Jacksonville Lunatics, Oskaloosa Quakers, Ottumwa Packers, Quincy Gems and the Waterloo Lulus as charter members in the eight–team league, beginning league play on May 7, 1908.

The Kewanee use of the "Boilermakers" moniker corresponds to local industry. The local Kewanee Boiler Company, was a large manufacturing factory in Kewanee.

From 1908 to 1913, the Boilermakers played exclusively as members of the Central Association, hosting home games at Terminal Park.