bowling alley

By the late 1830s in New York City, the Knickerbocker Hotel's bowling alley had opened, with three lanes. Instead of wood, this indoor alley used clay for the bowling lane. By 1850, there were more than 400 bowling alleys in New York City, which earned it the title "bowling capital of North America". Because early versions of bowling were difficult and there were concerns about gambling, the sport faltered. Several cities in the United States regulated bowling due to its association with gambling.{{cite web |title=The History of Bowling |url=https://www.bowlingballs.us/bowling.htm |website=bowlingballs.us |access-date=June 6, 2017}}

In the late 19th century, bowling was revived in many U.S. cities. Alleys were often located in saloon basements and provided a place for working-class men to meet, socialize, and drink alcohol. Bars were and still are a principal feature of bowling alleys. The sport remained popular during the Great Depression and, by 1939, there were 4,600 bowling alleys across the United States. New technology was implemented in alleys, including the 1952 introduction of automatic pinsetters (or pinspotters), which replaced pin boys who manually placed bowling pins.{{cite book|author1=Steven A. Riess|title=Sports in America from Colonial Times to the Twenty-First Century|date=26 March 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317459477|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DnCsBwAAQBAJ&q=bowling+alley+knickerbocker+new+york&pg=PA186|access-date=June 6, 2017}} Today, most bowling alley facilities are operated by Bowlero Corporation.{{Citation Needed|date=August 2024}}

In 2015, over 70 million people bowled in the United States.{{cite web|url=https://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/americas-coolest-bowling-alleys|last=Goldsmith |first=Margie|date=November 28, 2016|title=America's Coolest Bowling Alleys|work=Travel + Leisure|access-date=July 4, 2019}}

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| File:18361008 Drunkeries - bowling alley miserably profane chaps - Fall River Monitor (Massachusetts).jpg | Bowling alleys often had a negative image, as shown in this 1836 editorial portraying bowling alleys as "drunkeries" that were "visited by a set of as miserably profane, drunken, worthless chaps as can be found".{{cite news |title=Drunkeries |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/590102605/ |work=Fall River Monitor and Weekly Recorder |date=October 8, 1836 |location=Fall River, Massachusetts, U.S. |page=2 }} (clipping)

| File:18380310 Evasions of Law - Logansport Telegraph.png | An 1838 Indiana newspaper describes how ten-pin bowling was devised to evade a Baltimore statute prohibiting nine-pin bowling.{{cite news |title=Evasions of Law |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/logansport-telegraph-mar-10-1828-p-1/ |work=Logansport Telegraph |date=March 10, 1838 |location=Logansport, Indiana, U.S. |page=1 }}

| File:18380618 Kickerbocker Hotel bowling alleys - Morning Herald (New York).jpg | To project a classy image, this 1838 New York newspaper ad for the Knickerbocker Hotel's three bowling alleys boasted "excellent accommodations" and appealed to "gentlemen to perform their ablutions".{{cite news |title=Communicated - Bowling Alleys |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/466528819/ |work=Morning Herald |page=5 |location=New York |date=June 18, 1838 }} (edition of New York Daily Herald) (clipping)

| File:1997- Bowling centers, league members, and lanes - normalized.svg | The number of U.S. bowling centers has declined significantly, though not as steeply as the decline in league bowlers. Many modern bowling centers bring in additional revenue with "cosmic bowling" and more diverse entertainment.Data: Wayback Machine archives of USBC's bowl.com website. Links provided on [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1997-_USBC_membership_and_certified_lanes.png Wikimedia's image page] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20190403153229/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1997-_USBC_membership_and_certified_lanes.png 2019-04-03 archive thereof])

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File:20181228 Bowling lane WITH measurements.png, the lane is more elongated than most people imagine—more than 17 times as long as it is wide.]]

Bowling alleys contain long and narrow synthetic or wooden lanes.{{cite web|url=https://www.bowlingthismonth.com/bowling-tips/stop-look-and-listen-to-the-lanes/|last=Mautner |first=Rob|title=Stop, Look, and Listen to the Lanes!|work=Bowling This Month|access-date=July 4, 2019}} The number of lanes inside a bowling alley is variable. The Inazawa Grand Bowl in Japan is the largest bowling alley in the world, with 116 lanes.[http://www.bowlingdigital.com/bowl/node/7445 Guinness World Records confirms Inazawa Grand Bowl world's largest Bowling Center]

Human pinsetters were used at bowling alleys to set up the pins, but modern ten-pin bowling alleys have automatic mechanical pinsetters.

Each lane has an overhead monitor/television screen to display bowling scores and a seating area and tables for dining and socializing.

With a decades-long decline in league participation, modern bowling alleys usually offer other games (often billiard tables, darts and arcade games) and may serve food or beverages, usually via vending machines or an integrated bar or restaurant. Pro shops and party rooms are common.

{{excerpt|Bowling ball|Effect of lane characteristics on ball motion}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last1=Freeman |first1=James |last2=Hatfield |first2=Ron |title=Bowling Beyond the Basics: What's Really Happening on the Lanes, and What You Can Do about It |date=July 15, 2018 |publisher=BowlSmart |isbn=978-1 73 241000 8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8thjDwAAQBAJ}}

• Jackson, Emma. "[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0038038519892528 Bowling together? Practices of belonging and becoming in a London ten-pin bowling league]." Sociology 54.3 (2020): 518-533.

{{Commonscat|Bowling alleys}}

• [https://www.mybowlingclubwebsite.com U.S. Bowling Alleys Database]

Category:Sports venues by type