The Bulverde Bowling Club

9-pin bowling at its best!

Standardized rules and organization of 9-pin were developed by the American Bowling Congress in 1895. Ninepins was the most popular form of bowling in much of the United States from colonial times until the early nineteenth century, when it was outlawed in many areas and replaced by tenpins. Today, ninepins has disappeared from all of the United States except Texas, where both nine and ten pin bowling have been known since the 1830s. Ninepin alleys were numerous enough by 1837 to be subjected to an annual tax of $150 by the First Congress of the Republic of Texas and all forms of bowling have remained legal and subject to taxation in Texas ever since. Whereas tenpin alleys were usually found in saloons and other establishments frequented exclusively by men, ninepin alleys were often built by clubs patronized by families.

By World War I most Texas bowling establishments, both private and commercial, had changed to tenpins. However, ninepins remained popular in predominantly German communities like Fredericksburg, New Braunfels and Bulverde, until the introduction of fully automated pin-setting machinery in the 1950s caused most of them to make the change as well. Those bowlers who still preferred the teamwork and camaraderie of ninepins then moved to the ninepin clubs in small outlying communities of Bexar, Comal, and Guadalupe counties.

Organizations like the Bulverde, Blanco, Bracken, Cibolo, Fischer, Freiheit, Marion, Martinez, Mission Valley and Spring Branch bowling clubs maintain the only active ninepin leagues in the United States.

So, come join us and find out why we're the best-kept secret in Bulverde!