|
|
Syracuse has a very unique bowling history. So being
one of the oldest bowling communities in the U.S., we
have taken the opportunity of collecting information from
bowlers scrapbooks, the Onondaga Historical Association,
the Syracuse Public Library, the Post-Standard, the Herald
Journal and the Herald American. We are going to document
some of the highlights of bowling in Syracuse dating back
to the 1870's and we will be updating some of this information
periodically as it becomes available.
THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS
1870-1920
Bowling got started in Syracuse in 1870.
The first two bowling alleys were constructed in the basement
of the Wieting Opera House on South Salina Street. One
Lincoln Center presently occupies this site.
|
|
|
| The first bowling match in Syracuse history
was held in 1879 at Lenehans Bowling Alley, which was located
in the basement of the Wieting Opera House. It consisted
of a one game match between a team from Syracuse against
a team from Utica. Each team was comprised of ten bowlers
and it took two hours to complete the match. These two teams
bowled a home and home match with the first match taking
place in Utica on February 13, 1879 and the second match
in Syracuse on February 27, 1879. The Team from Syracuse
won both matches. The score of the match in Utica was 1,605
to 1,518 in favor of Syracuse and the score of the match
in Syracuse was 1,894 to 1,834 also in favor of Syracuse.
The individual scores of the match in Syracuse were as follows. |
|
SYRACUSE
|
UTICA
|
| Chas. Vanderbilt |
194
|
J. Vivian |
197
|
| M. Daly |
226
|
P. Faas |
128
|
| R. Whittle |
187
|
L. Davis |
177
|
| F. Becker |
179
|
J. McNierny |
156
|
| M. Welch |
183
|
W. Williams |
151
|
| J. Murphy |
156
|
J. Schremp |
195
|
| W. Heffron |
169
|
C. Herbert |
215
|
| J. Dwyre |
210
|
J. Osterman |
209
|
| T. Galvin |
183
|
C. Knapp |
187
|
| D. Hennessey |
207
|
J. Donohue |
219
|
|
|
1,894
|
|
1,834
|
|
In 1905, the "New York State" bowling league
was formed. John G. Foss of Buffalo, Mayor M.W. Gage of
Rochester and Manny Goldstein of Syracuse founded it.
The first cities included Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse,
Schenectady, Utica, Albany and Binghamton.
On February 4th, 1907, there was a meeting held at the
Gordon Alleys to form the City League. There were six
teams with six bowlers each and five of the six bowlers
would bowl in the team event each week. The six best bowlers
as determined by their fellow bowlers would be made the
captains of the six teams. They in turn would pick the
other members of their respective teams. The first year,
the league started on February 8, 1907 bowling on Friday
evenings at Gordon's alleys and also at Potters Club.
|
|
|
|
Bernie Maurer was considered to be the best bowler in
Syracuse and also was considered to be one of the best
bowlers in the United States. In 1912, Bernie was rated
as the number two bowler in the U.S. while Jimmy Smith
of New York City was rated as the number one bowler. For
two years, they traveled around the country together putting
on exhibition matches.
A chapter of the Atlantic Coast Bowling Association was
formed in Syracuse in 1915 and the officers were; James
Mulheran (President), Charles Pross (Vice-President),
Michael Sargis (Treasurer) and M.H. Paddock (Secretary).
In 1917 the Palace team finished in second place in the
A.B.C. Tournament in Grand Rapids Michigan with a score
of 3047. They were the very first team to bowl over a
3000 score in the tournament. Members of the team were;
Walter Woodin, Frank Scoville, Dave Stockham, Eugene Ryan
and Albert Zwilling.
|
 |
Pictured above is a photo from 1918 which
showed fourteen of the areas top bowlers. They were participating
in an elimination tournament for Syracuse to see who would
represent Syracuse in a Central New York tournament. They
were from left to right, Bob Steinmiller, Bernie Maurer,
Leon Beckwith, Charles Partridge, Floyd Bentley, (inserts
James Mulheran, Jack Ryan, Joe Kilman), Lewis Collins, Mike
Carns, Frank Scoville, Harold Williams, on the bottom is
H.C. Yakey and "Duke" Ivers.
The first formidable bowling team in Syracuse History came
along in 1919. They went by the name 'Romans' and dominated
the bowling scene in Syracuse for the next twelve years.
They were so popular that they attracted many young bowlers
of Italian heritage to the game of ten pins. During the
1920's, all five of these bowlers were picked up on either
the first or second All-Star teams no less than five times
each. The team members were; James LaTessa, John O. Martino,
Frank Cattalane, Harold Williams and Jack Schlie.  |
|
