The Detroit Curling Club is an organization that promotes the sport of

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

in the

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

area. Its home is a four-sheet facility located in

Ferndale, Michigan Ferndale is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Ferndale borders Detroit to the north, roughly northwest of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a ...

. It is one of the oldest curling clubs in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, founded in 1840. It is the oldest in Michigan, and the present-day club was founded in 1885 following the merger of several organizations.

Origins and history

The Detroit Curling Club was founded by local farmers and was one of several organizations that had been formed in the Detroit area post-civil war. These groups largely contested their games on a frozen Orchard Lake - in recent years, divers have found curling rocks from these games at the lake's bottom. The club first moved to an outside facility next to the Detroit Athletic Club and built its first indoor facility in 1906 at 1236 Forest Avenue in Detroit. In 1979, the facility was bought out by an expanding

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

, and the club moved to a new home in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Hard times fell on the club in the mid-1990s when small membership numbers and high taxes threatened the life of the club. For a few years, the club looked for a new, dedicated facility that would suit the club for years to come. An arrangement was drawn up with the city of Ferndale, the club purchased land in Martin Road Park, then donated the land back to the city, and leased the property for 99 years. This allowed the club to build a new rink with curling in mind. The current facility opened in January 2002. With network coverage of curling during the 2002 and 2006 winter Olympics, membership has soared and in February 2006, a single day open house drew a crowd of 500 first-time curlers. The facility also doubles as a community center in the summer time when the club does not curl as it is too difficult to maintain the ice during the summer heat. The club is a founding member of the

Ontario Curling Association Curling Ontario (formerly the Ontario Curling Association and CurlON) is the governing body of curling in Southern Ontario. Northern Ontario is governed by the Northern Ontario Curling Association (NOCA). The Curling Ontario sends a team to repr ...

despite being in a different country. Members are allowed to play in provincial championships in Ontario. Detroit's curling ties to Canada date back to 1917 when they first played against teams from Kitchener and

Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County, Ontario, Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto, but it is n ...

References

External links

* Curling clubs established in the 19th century Sports clubs and teams established in 1885 Curling clubs in the United States Sports clubs and teams in Detroit 1885 establishments in Michigan Sports in Oakland County, Michigan Curling in Michigan {{Detroit-sport-stub