Truro Curling Club

Truro Curling Club

The Truro Curling Club was organized December 22, 1875, at a meeting held in the parlor of the Prince of Wales Hotel. It was situated on Elm Street facing the end of Queen Street and was so named in honour of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) who was a guest of the house at the time of his visit to Truro in 1860. The Curling Club used this hotel as a meeting place quite frequently during the earlier years of their history. 

The first matters discussed at the organizational meeting was a place to play, the nature of the game and it was agreed to get further information from the Pictou Club in regards to obtaining stones. On December 30, 1875 ten pairs of stones were purchased and the first game was played on that date at the circus grounds near the present entrance to Victoria Park. 

For many years only outdoor curling was available and devotees of the game encountered many difficulties in trying to find suitable ice on which to play. Snow had to be removed, stones had to be transported from place to place, and when playable ice was found it was often in poor condition compared to standards later obtained when enclosed rinks became available and especially with the invention of artificial ice. 

In the early days ice conditions governed the length of the rink, hence we find records of games being played on different lengths such as 36 yards, 40 yards, 42 yards, etc. In the early years, a "rink" or team consisted of four to seven players (usually six), and skips were chosen for each day's play. For some years the annual dues were $2.00 and in 1876 the Club had 14 paid-up members. 

At the Annual Meeting, March 22, 1886, a proposal regarding the building of a Rink was discussed. A meeting on May 3, 1886 authorized the purchase of the lot on Young Street, where the present rink now stands and at a meeting on October 14 the construction of a three-rink building was authorized. On November 12 it was resolved that the new rink would be used for skating as well as curling and thus the club was known as the Truro Skating and Curling Club. In August 1887, ten months after new construction, the rink was damaged by fire. 

During the early years, due to small membership and fees, the Club had financial difficulties in operating, as witnessed by the fact that in 1892 the cost of electric lights was considered excessive and they reverted to the use of oil lamps. That lasted until 1898 when electric lights were re-installed. In 1900 regular skating was discontinued and the use of the rink primarily given over to curling. However, there are periods up until 1965 where we find skating a few nights of the week in an effort to raise extra revenue for the Club.