Two years before World War II ended, Austinites made post-war plans for employing returning servicemen.
Austin Daily Herald sports columnist “Burgy” had something else in mind.
“Put it down in the book as a post-war ‘must’: MORE TENNIS,” Burgy wrote Aug. 20, 1943.
Burgy ranted about his “pet peeve” of Austin’s lack of interest in “one of the finest summer sports: tennis.” He blamed the growth of golf and people getting lazy.
A few years earlier, Austin finally got concrete tennis courts at Horace Austin State Park on Austin Mill Pond’s south side after decades of public complaints about earthen courts. These replaced courts removed for the city’s first pool in 1939.
Yet, tennis activity had been “nothing short of deplorable,” Burgy wrote. People used to crowd “old, dilapidated courts,” including clay courts at Lafayette Park, and “the dust always flew around in whirlpools to fill your nostrils and line your esophagus but plenty of people figured it was worth waiting to get on the court.”
This fall, Austin Public Schools opened its reconstructed tennis courts at Wescott Athletic Complex — a reminder of how far the game has come locally since locals started playing more than 130 years ago on empty lots.
In 1892, Austinites formed three tennis clubs and sanded grounds for courts while awaiting shipments of tennis sets. One was just east of Hormel Home; another next to First United Methodist Church.
By 1909, a group including Ben Hormel (George’s brother) formed the Austin Tennis Club, hoping it would lead to a country club (one formed in 1920 with tennis courts). This included two courts in a lot near the old Austin YMCA on 2nd St NW. Hormel offered his nearby home’s basement for showers.
This club, which sent a team in 1911 to Duluth for the state tournament, lost its lot to a home in 1913 and sold its 200 feet of 6-foot wire fencing.
At that time, the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) had a court. High school girls could use it from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and “business girls” after 6 p.m.
Park tennis courts arrived in 1915 when the city opened two at Lafayette Park but they were plagued by poor conditions.
In 1921, a columnist scolded the city for balls getting lost in tall grass due to netting with holes.
“Continually chasing a ball that bounds so far and loses itself as easily as a tennis ball is very annoying. Why has the proper care of the courts been so neglected during this summer when tennis has been more popular and more widely played than ever before.”
The city wasn’t marking lines or providing new nets. Local players did that.
In 1924, the city added courts to the state park on Mill Pond’s west side but some still weren’t happy as noted in 1927 in the Herald:
“Wanted: Somebody with a million dollars or less who is willing to donate the price of a dozen cement tennis courts. There would be no maintenance cost and the courts would always be in shape.”
In 1928, the state park’s courts were removed for a flower garden. New courts planned for Mill Pond’s south side were delayed by the 1928 tornado.
That year — without those courts — locals argued Austin didn’t have a good tennis court and a few players were hogging what was available.
“Tennis Courts at Austin State Park Urged by Local Players,” read a March 1929 headline.
“Good courts mean more players. Poor courts mean that many will stay inside all summer and listen to radios, which will be injurious to their health.”
Weeks later, a columnist threatened “to organize an army to pay visits” if the state park didn’t get courts.
In May 1929, the state park opened “three, first-class tennis courts.” Players supplied nets as required in most cities. This was “good news to the languishing tennis fans who have almost forgotten how to hold a racquet because of the inactivity forced by the total absence of facilities for play.”
A month later, these courts were in “very poor condition with holes, ruts and soft spots,” and “only those of an extremely imaginative mind have the courage to use them.”
Most clay courts had a thin surfacing but Austin’s state park just had clay, requiring frequent rolling after rain but there was no roller.
Players in the city’s 1929 tennis championship had many balls hit holes and take “crazy bounces,” making “play at times somewhat ridiculous.”
In 1930, Austin had “5 3/8 tennis courts” as one at Lafayette was shrunk for a road. Local players were frustrated with bad courts; some left town on weekends to play tennis.
Lifeguards at the state park in 1932 even had to care for the courts, yelling at people to stay off when wet and fixing bicycle ruts.
In 1934, Galloway Park got courts — “finest in the city” — with a clay base and hard-packed sand surface. Galloway and the state park by 1936 were both “crowded from morning until night” in good weather.
By 1940, Driesner Park had courts but the main ones were at the state park (two), Galloway (two) and Athletic Field (six).
Courts later were added at Riverland Community College and Ellis Middle School but no longer are there.
Neveln School has hosted courts for years, including this fall’s Austin Packers girls tennis team while the main complex was redone.