A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a clubhouse or dwelling house.
History
By the late 1830s in New York City, the Knickerbocker Hotel's bowling alley had opened, with three lanes.
In the late 19th century, in a movement spearheaded by Joe Thum's new bowling alley concept at 401 Greenwich Street, 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. Today, most bowling alley facilities are operated by Bowlero Corporation.
In 2015, over 70 million people bowled in the United States.
Modern day
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|File:1895 Bowling lane cross section.jpg | Cutaway view looking horizontally: Adjusting screws at the sides of bowling lanes in this 1895 cross-sectional diagram allow the lanes to be made flat and level, to ensure repeatable ball reaction.
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