The Story: The Last Ninepin Bowling Clubs in America

Editor’s note: This segment first appeared on ‘Texas Monthly Presents,” a television program airing on Texas PBS stations and on PBS.org .

Fewer than twenty places in the United States, all of them in the Texas Hill Country, still offer a version of bowling that was played by German settlers. Staff writer Lea Konczal wanted to find out why, and she discovered a deeply held tradition in these small communities. Ninepin is a source of connection and a point of pride as much as it’s entertainment. Konczal explains how she joined that community when she was writing her story “ Inside America’s Last Ninepin Bowling Enclave. ”