When the Scottish migrated to the United States in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, they brought more with them then just bagpipes; they brought the growth of curling, a winter sport in which the players slide heavy granite blocks across icy terrain hoping to settle them in a bullseye on the other side of the playing field. Curling had been introduced to the New World through the English colonists that became American citizens after the Revolutionary War. When Scottish immigrants crossed the Atlantic and found that curling (a game of Scottish origin) was already played in this new world, they embraced it with open arms, helping to popularize curling and root it into American culture. As the Scots continued to settle in the Midwest, they began setting up and participating in curling matches on the many lakes and rivers of the Badger State, and as a result curling spread throughout Wisconsin, finding a home in this land of ice and snow.
The Milwaukee Rivers long and narrow shape made it a popular destination for curlers, and due to this Milwaukee became the first Wisconsin city to create an official curling organization. This Milwaukee Curling Club, formed in 1845, is still in operation today making it the oldest and longest standing continuously operating facility of its kind. The Badger State’s other rivers offered a popular destination for curlers as well, especially its namesake Wisconsin River. The first match on the Wisconsin River is thought to have occurred on New Year’s Eve in 1850. A historian who witnessed the game wrote,
“There a reminiscing band of Scotsmen, full of nostalgia and perhaps of New Year spirits, cleared a space on the Wisconsin River for a curling match. Immune to the blasts of the cold winter’s night, the Scots used flatirons for stones. Later, finding this improvisation unsatisfactory, they engaged a carpenter and a blacksmith to make the stones of wood with iron handles.”
Curling began to spread throughout Wisconsin in the mid-1800s, with curling clubs opening in the neighboring cities of Portage, Poynette, Arlington, Cambria, and Lodi all before the start of the twentieth century. Together these Wisconsin towns would form the Northwestern Curling Association of America (NWCAA) in 1892. Milwaukee joined the Grand National Curling Club of America in 1867, won their first championship in 1872, and took home an international medal in 1884. This would not be the last international medal that Wisconsinites took home, as since curling became an official Olympic winter sport in 1924, US teams have almost always included at least one member from Wisconsin. Wisconsin Public Radio’s Sonny Villwock offered an explanation for this when asked why curling is such a big deal in Wisconsin. He tactfully states, “The short answer is, we’ve been doing it longer.”
Curling’s intertwinement with Wisconsin culture is what helped Olympians like Matt Hamilton make it to the highest level. Hamilton, who was born and raised in Madison, helped the U.S. win the gold at the 2018 winter Olympics in PyeongChang. Other recent Wisconsin curling Olympians include Becca Hamilton (Matt’s sister) and Nina Roth (of McFarland). While still in the shadow of other winter sports, even amongst those in the Midwest where curling first became popular, in Wisconsin curling is ingrained in the very culture. It is no surprise that this state produces so many high-level curling athletes. From the humble beginnings on the Milwaukee River, to the largest international stage, Wisconsin and curling have grown hand-in-hand as curling continues to etch itself on the hearts of the people of the Badger State.
Written by John Tarlizzo, May 2024.
Sources
Hayes Creech, “Matt Hamilton: Olympic Curling Champion on His Support for Brain Cancer Research.” Olympics.com, February 13, 2022. https://olympics.com/en/news/matt-hamilton-curling-usa-beijing-2022.
Lodi Curling Club. “History of the Club.” November 30, 2023. https://lodicurling.org/index.php/about-the-club/history-of-the-club.
Tim Peterson, “Why Is Curling ‘A Really Big Deal’ In Wisconsin? Let’s Go Back In Time.” WPR, February 22, 2021. https://www.wpr.org/culture/why-curling-really-big-deal-wisconsin-lets-go-back-time.
Abriela Thiel, “Meet the Team: Wisconsin Athletes Competing in 2022 Winter Olympics.” https://www.nbc15.com, February 3, 2022. https://www.nbc15.com/2022/02/03/meet-team-wisconsin-athletes-competing-2022-winter-olympics/
Wisconsin Historical Society. “Curling in Wisconsin,” August 3, 2012. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS260.
Wisconsin Historical Society. “The Rise of Professional Sports,” August 3, 2012. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS435.
Wisconsin Historical Society. “Wooden Curling Stone,” April 23, 2013. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS2753.
World Curling Federation. “History of Curling.” Accessed November 29, 2023. https://worldcurling.org/about/history/.
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