Alene, the mystery of the croquet court probably hinges on an early liking by Americans for what was essentially a British pasttime. The game was big also in India and some of the rest of the Empire. The well dressed players wore game-specific clothing, usually with knickers, lightweight shoes and kid gloves. Americans were still playing the game on a wide scale in the 1920s, but the economic crash of 1929 almost certainly put a crush on inviting a couple of dozen players on Sunday and feeding them lunch and sometimes dinner. Even some upscale families were having a hard time from the moment the Great Depression started. I don't believe I have seen a court at a school, but they were fairly common at churches and at club houses.The rising popularity of golf also must have cut into croquet playing. The game in the 1930s seems to have all but fizzled out. I love the game and if I had a spot for a court, I would put one in today. It is a dignified outing and challenging enough to hold one's interest. As a young journalist I edited the Middlesborough, KY newspaper and liked very much the English flavor of the town. It was founded by a congregation of rich Englishmen and everything was done by the English rules...extra wide streets, common English names applied to streets, buildings with much of the architecture of earlier London. The second oldest golf course in the US is located in Middlesborough and at one time it had a croquet court for the ladies, who didn't play golf in those days. The innovations in the game abound, but it still calls for many of the skills of golfing, especially skillful shooting, putting and driving. The court you mention must have been put there quite a long time ago, perhaps at the height of the craze in the 1880-90s. It wasn't uncommon and still isn't for a community to do something creative in the way of entertainment. Tompkinsville, KY has a modern day grand marble field, where grown men and grandfathers and a few ladies still play the game at the championship level. It did not cost much to build and has entertained thousands over the years. Now...... if someone would only make a place for me to play my game...mumble-peg. Hermit in the Woods ----- Original Message ----- From: <alenebrad@aol.com> To: <SOUTH-CENTRAL-KENTUCKY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 12:02 PM Subject: [SCKY] Croquet > Many years ago I went to grade school at a one room school house, Blair's School, in south central Kentucky. No, this was not a five mile walk uphill both ways. However, it was a good long walk. Blair's School was probably built sometime in the 1800's. My question is this: Back behind the school there was a croquet field,