It was never what you probably thought all these years. I mean, wouldn’t you think that it was boys who played the first game of basketball in Presque Isle? It’s guys who play NBA, right? Shameful to say, but when we speak of basketball records standing or being broken, we’re talking about boys’ basketball. Not fair, for sure, but that’s the way it is. After all, girls’ basketball these days is good, very good, but still, it’s the boys’ games people generally discuss, either old games or new.
But – and that’s a big but – it wasn’t boys who first played organized basketball in the Presque Isle School system. Guess what? Yup, it was girls who first put forth a team, bloomers and all. That was way back in the year 1900 (not around 1900, exactly 1900).
According to Nanny White’s “Fifty-One Years Of Basketball Playing In Aroostook County, Maine (1900-1951),” it was a certain young woman named Myra Vickery who introduced the game of basketball to our town. Vickery joined the Presque Isle High School faculty in the fall of 1899. She had graduated from Mount Holyoke College that spring. Mount Holyoke, only a few miles from Springfield, Mass. where basketball was invented, had already incorporated the game and Vickery participated in the activity and developed a liking for it. It was during her second year here in the fall of 1900 when she first instructed girls in basketball play. It would be two years later that the boys would be invigorated to form their own team. I quote from White’s book, “The boys did not begin to play until winter was upon them (1902). Then, aroused by the efforts of their fair sisters, and moved by their desires for some form of exercise more congenial than that afforded by the woodpile or snow shovel, they decided to turn to basketball.”
So, it was the girls directly responsible for basketball being first played in Presque Isle. But it wasn’t exactly a smooth road; it was considered by many to be “unladylike” … caused “talk” and disapproval. Imagine now that the ankles showed! It was reported that when a few boys ventured close to view the girls in play, mothers became alarmed and protested. Vickery and the girls persisted, and in time, overcame the objections. Interestingly enough, the girls made their own uniforms. The uniforms were made of blue serge (a firm-textured, compacted twisted yarn from long-staple fibers mixed with wool … obviously I had to confer with Mr. Webster for that) and according to White, “… consisted of blouses with long sleeves and high necks, bloomers pleated around the waists and gathered in by elastics below the knees, of long black stockings and rubber-soled ‘gym’ shoes.” And, again, the uniforms were “unladylike” for girls to wear such apparel. But, they survived. In fact, girls’ basketball has been played since.
There were no school gymnasiums except, perhaps, a small one at St. John’s School where UMPI now stands. In the fall of 1900, the first team was allowed to use the so-called Music Hall or, later, the Presque Isle Opera House which the Hone family had newly renovated for a place of entertainment like plays, musicals, dances, etc. Baskets were set up and the game of local basketball began. Shortly thereafter, the P.I. Opera House was severely damaged by fire and basketball was temporarily out of business. But it was in the early days of May that a vacant lot was secured on the other side of the river – then called Gouldville – and baskets were again set up. They played despite having to sidestep the elements like rain, mud and the cold. And despite those elements, the girls played five games on the outdoor court. You might ask whom they played since there were no other teams in town. Well, there were 16 players; the girls formed teams and scrimmaged among themselves.
At this point, a little history about the Presque Isle Opera House is in order since, without it, the game of basketball perhaps would have begun much later. The Opera House provided a safe, indoor place for the game to incubate and mature. John Hone in his new book, “A Long Time Forgotten” (to be released soon), recounts the history of the Opera House from its beginning in the late 1880s to its end in April of 1947. This is what Hone writes about the Opera House in its early years and its involvement with basketball in its infancy at the turn of the century:
“What was to become the Presque Isle Opera House had begun as a music hall for short plays, musicals, receptions speeches, and political and town meetings. When in 1900 Myra Vickery, a new school teacher in the Presque Isle system, approached John J. Hone, owner and operator of his new Music Hall (later called the Presque Isle Opera House) located just north of State St. on the west side of Main across from Hall St., about girls playing a game of basketball in his theater, no doubt, Hone was taken very much aback; girls playing any sport at the turn of the century was truly something out of the ordinary. But, he agreed and had baskets set up on the limited floor space. Baskets could not be placed in the center of the short sides and the gallery provided a restriction from throwing the ball. Vickery began in earnest to instruct in the new game. The sport became so popular that the girls charged five cents to scholars and ten cents to the general public to view not only the games, but practice as well. The boys finally joined the girls in the game of basketball in 1902 also playing their games in the P.I. Opera House. In 1902 the girls made history again by playing in the Opera House the first-ever game against a rival town – the P.I. girls defeated the Caribou girls by a score of 34 to 9.”
Next week in part II, we’ll fast forward to 1922 when the “new” Presque Isle High School is built with the town’s first school gymnasium. This addition to the school system spurred sporting activity, especially basketball. A hearty thanks to John Hone for his contribution to this article. Watch for his yet-to-be- released book, “A Long Time Forgotten,” the definitive tome on the history of the Presque Isle Opera House and its role in providing entertainment to our town in the early years and beyond when plays, musicals, etc. slowly give way to the “talkies.” Included are descriptions of the fires, which plagued the PIOH through the years, the last one in 1947, which ultimately led to its final showing in April of that year. The book can be reserved for purchase by contacting the author, John Hone, at his e-mail address: jhone@lhlegal.com or his home address: 15515 Aitcheson Lane, Laurel, MD. 20707.
Also, many thanks to Nathan White (now deceased) who, without his book, “Fifty-one Years of Basketball Playing in Aroostook County” at my side, this article and the proceeding ones would have been much more difficult to put together. Please stay tuned for next week’s piece, “The Intervening Years” … 1922-1932.
