Peterborough Curling Club Information

The Peterborough Curling club is one of the older clubs in Ontario dating back to 1876, the year that the curling club joined the Ontario Curling Association. Available records indicate the club was in existence a generation earlier with curling taking place on the river, ponds and raceways, it would seem these were somewhat formative years with the Club in the process of building a core of members and attempting to establish a permanent location. The club was formed on November 9 1859. at a meeting of men about town in the Casey House, an old hotel on George St. which became the Bank of Nova Scotia. The original officers elected that November night were President A.S.Fraser, vice president, D. Sutherland, A.Munro, secretary: Thos.White, treasurer and the Rev. James Douglas, chaplain. Members of a general committee, W. Johnston, James Meyers, Harry Calcutt, J. Palmer and Duncan McGregor. In the early years games were played on Spauldings Bay, a wide stretch of Jackson Park creek just before it emptied into the Otonabee River. The present Chamber of Commerce sits on the Bay, which was eventually filled with sawdust from the nearby Alfred McDonald sawmill to provide a storage yard for the lumber. This area was also known as the Goose Pond but the geese headed south once the curlers took over. Games were announced by means of a notice in the weekly papers, by word of mouth and by handbills in the post office. Those first curlers had to be content with an assortment of "stones", some made of granite, others of melted down iron and some made of blocks of wood hollowed out, filled with lead and a steel shoe for a running surface. In 1972 a local scuba diver Doug Townsend discovered an iron stone while diving in the Otonabee River. An Ashburnham lumberman, John Ludgate built the first rink in 1862. It was located the east side of the river close to what is now known as Riverside Park. In 1877 fire destroyed the wooden building and a 3-sheet rink was erected on the west side of the river near the site of the present Quaker Oats cereal plant. In 1883 the Peterborough Curling and Skating Co. was looking for a new home and purchased property on Charlotte St. from boat builder William and Caroline English. In 1885 the 3-sheet structure was dismantled and moved to Charlotte Street. In 1906 a public company was formed called The Peterborough Curling Rink Limited. Its purpose was to acquire and maintain a curling rink facility. Letters Patent were received from the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario dated March 21 1906 authorizing the issue of up to 1000 shares at a par value of $10 per share. With the proceeds, the property and rink on Charlotte St. were purchased for $4500. On Jan 2 1908 the Club burned down, but this did not stop curling activities. A hut was built at the rear of the premises and the game was kept going all winter. At this time consideration was given to selling the property and relocating the facility, but the tenders for the property were not high enough and the Board of Directors decided to rebuild on the same location. The Baptie brothers for a tendered cost of $6,895 completed the new building in 1909. When rebuilt the building was set back 35 feet from Charlotte Street. In 1914 this 35-foot strip of property was sold to RC and JT Braund for the development of stores and living areas. The Club retained a 20-foot wide piece of this property to provide access. A three-story entranceway was erected which provided a store to rent at ground level and second and third floor rooms over the store for clubroom space.