Date:
Late 1800s
Title:
Curling Stone
Description:
The sport of curling, which dates back several centuries, has deep roots in northeastern Indiana. When competing in curling, a contestant ever so carefully slides a large teakettle-like granite rock on an icy surface while teammates eagerly sweep away at the ice helping influence the stone's speed and direction before it comes to rest at a distant down-course target.
Local businessman John H. Bass brought cattle to his farm from Scotland, and, in the winter, several of the Scottish men who tended his cattle enjoyed playing their native game of curling on the ice of Bass Lake, helping to popularize the sport in Fort Wayne. On 3 January 1887, members of the Fort Wayne Curling Club gathered on the ice-crusted lake at Bass' Brookside mansion to compete for a "point medal." After a spirited match, John Kidd won the competition by one point.
In 1891, a "bonspiel," or curling exhibition, was staged on that same lake which is part of the pre-sent-day campus of the University of Saint Francis. On Sunday, 18 January 1953, the Journal Gazette announced that memories of that "bonspiel" would be recalled at the Memorial Coliseum in an upcoming highlight during a Komets-Grand Rapids hockey game. According to the newspaper, curling was a popular activity in the Fort Wayne area in the latter part of the nineteenth century with regular matches played at Brookside and at the old Caledonia Curling Rink located at State Street and Spy Run Avenue.
The curling stone displayed here was purportedly part of the spirited curling competitions on the lake at Bass's beautiful mansion, brought to Fort Wayne by Scottish immigrants around 1870.
Local businessman John H. Bass brought cattle to his farm from Scotland, and, in the winter, several of the Scottish men who tended his cattle enjoyed playing their native game of curling on the ice of Bass Lake, helping to popularize the sport in Fort Wayne. On 3 January 1887, members of the Fort Wayne Curling Club gathered on the ice-crusted lake at Bass' Brookside mansion to compete for a "point medal." After a spirited match, John Kidd won the competition by one point.
In 1891, a "bonspiel," or curling exhibition, was staged on that same lake which is part of the pre-sent-day campus of the University of Saint Francis. On Sunday, 18 January 1953, the Journal Gazette announced that memories of that "bonspiel" would be recalled at the Memorial Coliseum in an upcoming highlight during a Komets-Grand Rapids hockey game. According to the newspaper, curling was a popular activity in the Fort Wayne area in the latter part of the nineteenth century with regular matches played at Brookside and at the old Caledonia Curling Rink located at State Street and Spy Run Avenue.
The curling stone displayed here was purportedly part of the spirited curling competitions on the lake at Bass's beautiful mansion, brought to Fort Wayne by Scottish immigrants around 1870.
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Curling Stone
Curling Stone
Bass Mansion, 1930s
Curling Stone
Curling Stone
Bass Mansion, 1930s