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Oldest Bowling Alley in America Turns 100

MILWAUKEE — The walls of this tiny bowling alley are so close together you'd think a bowler would feel claustrophobic.

But stand before this pair of lanes, in the same spot where bowlers have been lacing up since before World War I, and the strongest reaction you feel is captivation.

The lanes are real wood, not the synthetic wood of modern lanes, and it's so resilient it's never been changed since it was set in place 100 years ago. Pin boys reload the manual pin mechanism by hand, and numerous photos on the walls document the history of the nation's oldest bowling alley.

In a city that became synonymous with beer and bowling, the Holler House tavern and bowling alley has been an enduring landmark. Hundreds of former patrons returned to this working-class Milwaukee neighborhood on Saturday, the Holler House's 100th anniversary, to relieve a century of good times.

"I've bowled at other places but this was always the best place to come," said Barbara Kwarcinski, 68, of Milwaukee.
Read entire article at Fox News