Wolfboro Casino

[Ken E]

Does anyone ever remember there being a casino and bowling ally on the lake in Wolfboro years ago?

[Diver1111]

Here it is. Bowling alley I can't say.

[Ken E]

Thank you very much for posting the picture. I remember hearing a lot of stories about that place. My grandfather used to run it and i remember my mother telling me how she used to set bowling pins by hand. Isnt there a marina there now?

[tis]

I do believe there was a bowling alley there too. Ken, Was Sands your grandfather?

[Ken E]

Ted Sands was my uncle. My grandfather was Sanborn.

[tis]

If you don't want to say, it's ok, but Ansel?

[Ken E]

Yeah, Ansel was my grandfather.

[tis]

So your Dad was also Ansel but your Mom wasn't Cindy?

[Pineedles]

Not that I was part of this private conversation, but I was getting curious as to who all you are. Lifted this from the Brown University Alumni magazine. Sorry for your loss if this is your Great Aunt.

Evelyn Sanborn Sands ’33, of Wolfeboro, N.H.; July 29. She taught remedial reading at the Rindge Memorial School in Jaffrey, N.H., until she retired in 1977. With her late husband, she previously managed the Wolfeboro Casino, a bowling alley and dancing establishment on Lake Winnipesaukee. She wrote a weekly bowling column for the Granite State News. A past member of the Eastern Star and the New Hampshire Retired Educators Association, she was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, which recognized her in 1977 for outstanding service in education. Phi Beta Kappa. She is survived by two daughters, two sons, twelve grandchildren, and twenty great-grandchildren.

[mcdude]

CLICK HERE to SUPERSIZE the IMAGE

[Ken E]

Grandfather was Ansel Sanborn, Cousin was Ansel (son of Cy and Kat) who was married to Cindy. Evalyn was my aunt( married to Ted Sands)

[tis]

Ok, now I see your connection. Sorry to be so nosey, it is just that Cindy was one of my best friends. How nice to hear from you!

[Pineedles]

It is nice to have a current family connection to a historic site Ken E. It helps all of us to understand the history of the lake. Glad you are posting! From the description it sounds like it wasn't really a "casino" as we all envision today as a Foxwoods or Taj but a place people could have fun in those activities deemed "wicked", like bowling or dancig. I hope you can share some of the stories that you were told.

[Ken E]

I really wish that i had some firsthand knowledge of the place. All i can remember are things i remember my parents talking about. I remember my mother talking about working at the bowling allys setting pins by hand and my uncle ted talking about playing in a band when they had dances there.My father was always talking about the beautiful wooden inboard boats on the lake. I grew up in Rochester and used to go to Wolfeboro to visit once in a while. That really is a beautiful town.I'm pretty sure the same grandfather ran the movie theatre in town also.

[Eagle54]

What was the actual location/site of the casino in Wolfeboro?
thanks

[upthesaukee]

Originally Posted by Eagle54

What was the actual location/site of the casino in Wolfeboro?
thanks

By McDude's 3 picture spread, the building site was on Endicott St, which is (was?) the third street on the left heading west from Back Bay Bridge, between Woodbine Ct and Nancy's Way, per Google Maps.

[Eagle54]

Ah - I missed the Endicott St note in the 3 picture spread. thanks

[ApS]

Originally Posted by Ken E

"...My grandfather used to run it and i remember my mother telling me how she used to set bowling pins by hand..."

In the 60s, there was a "candlepin" bowling alley in Melvin Village. The setting of pins was electric and automatic, but every once in a while, a "mystery hand" would emerge—startling us—and set a pin upright.

Originally Posted by Pineedles

"...From the description it sounds like it wasn't really a "casino" as we all envision today as a Foxwoods or Taj but a place people could have fun in those activities deemed "wicked", like bowling or dancing. I hope you can share some of the stories that you were told.

In one of Camp Wyanoke's wooden sailboats, my Dad would sail from Camp Wyanoke to the Casino in the late 30s. That adventure was a 16-mile round-trip by sail, and no motor.

The return trip was made late at night, but I am under family censure if I disclose the possibility of an absence of navigation lights!

[Senter Cove Guy]

Had dinner there last night. Noticed a large version of picture #3 (McDude's post #10) hanging on the wall in the bar area.

[tis]

Must have seen you there, SC guy! Just don't know you.

[Alan T]

Yes it was a large building on the lake. During the summer in the late 1940's I used to go dancing there most every Saturday night - sometimes a band and sometimes to the juke box. There was a bowling alley on the ground floor with duck pins and candle pins. First and only time I've seen candle pins, and was almost impossible to get a strike. They got large crowds of young folks - the only jumpin' spot in town.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Yes it was a large building on the lake. During the summer in the late 1940's I used to go dancing there most every Saturday night - sometimes a band and sometimes to the juke box. There was a bowling alley on the ground floor with duck pins and candle pins. First and only time I've seen candle pins, and was almost impossible to get a strike. They got large crowds of young folks - the only jumpin' spot in town.

Alan T, thanks so much for replying to this thread! I would love to hear anything else you have to say or remember about the lake and the area! Please hang around and respond to pertinent posts on the forum. You would be a treasure trove of memories which I and many would appreciate!!

Dan