Date: 1910

 

Description: This silver trophy was won by A. B. Beall, Jr. in the Sioux City Boat Club Golf Tournament in 1910. Located at a junction of three rivers Sioux City has certainly had its fair share of boat clubs, mostly located south of Riverside area along the Big Sioux River. Boating clubs were and remain mainly high-class clubs for people who enjoyed all manner of boating: rowing (sculling), yachting, speed and motor boating. They were especially popular in Sioux City’s early days, around the 1890s and early 1900s, as a pastime for Sioux City’s elites. Sioux City’s first boat club was the club that awarded this trophy, the Sioux City Boat Club. It was first organized in 1889 with a boat house in Riverside, and they hosted not only boating events but sporting and social events as well, such as tennis matches, gold tournaments, and social balls in the boat house. A new house was built for the club in 1899. The Riverside Boat Club began in 1890, with similar events to its neighbor. The Commercial Men’s Boat Club started in 1905, but the club house was destroyed by fire in 1911 and had to be rebuilt. The new club house featured a large dance hall, smoking rooms, card rooms, billiard rooms, and retiring rooms for both men and women. After the fire the club was renamed the Shore Acres Boat Club, and remodeling included bowling lanes and 6 tennis courts. The club went bankrupt in 1928 and the house was converted into a dance hall. During the late 30s and 40s attending dances at Shore Acres were some of the major social events in Sioux City. People of all classes attended events at the Shore Acres Ballroom, and it provided a key outlet for fun after the Depression. The hall officially closed in 1965 but the building was renovated and converted into the Sioux City Community Theatre. Today no boating clubs remain but the Community Theatre still provides quality entertainment year round, and the Sioux City Country Club and other premier golf clubs still provide a place for elites and non-elites alike to play.

 

Donor: A. B. Beall, Jr.

 

On display