Canadian Sports Heritage - Athletes of National Historic Significance
Royal Montreal Curling Club (established 1807)
A rock solid beginning
"Curling Match at Montreal," The Illustrated London News, 17 February 1855, p. 145. Colour engraving by James Duncan.© Courtesy of The Royal Montreal Curling Club.Today curling is a major competitive and Olympic sport and one of Canada’s leading participatory games. Founded in 1807, the Montreal Curling Club was the first curling club to be established in North America. It is the oldest curling club in Canada, and the earliest surviving athletic club in the country.
Initially, the Club consisted of about 20 merchants who curled on the frozen St. Lawrence in the winter with iron stones, a uniquely Canadian replacement for traditional granite rocks. Within two decades, curling clubs had also formed at Kingston, Halifax, and Québec City. Introduced to Canada by the Scottish community, within which it was popular, the game gradually caught the imagination of other Canadians. As it gained popularity throughout the 19th century, the Montreal Curling Club provided guidance and equipment to fledgling clubs across the country. Inter-club matches developed, forerunners of the modern bonspiel.
This great winter sport continues to be iconic of the Canadian winter, a legacy of the Montreal Curling Club. The Royal Montreal Curling Club was granted its royal designation in 1924 and is still active today.
The Royal Montreal Curling Club was declared of National Historic Event in 1954.