MENOMONIE – Dartball barely hangs on today in the Dunn County area with one small league after being introduced to the area 91 years ago and being very popular for more than 40 years.
From the 1940s, when the first local tournaments were held, to the early 80s, when almost 20 teams competed in two divisions of the league, hundreds of players competed in dartball. Today, the only league in the Menomonie area, the Colfax Church League, has only six teams— Big Elk Creek Lutheran Church, Salem Iron Creek United Methodist Church, Menomonie UMC, Popple Creek Lutheran Church, Tainter UMC, and Trinity (Elk Mound) UMC.
The league holds three competitions every Tuesday evening from October 14 last year to March 10, with a tournament scheduled Monday, March 17 at the Memomonie United Methodist Church. During the season, each team plays the others four times, two as the home team, two as the visitors.
The league was founded Jan. 20, 1947, when Colfax Methodist Church met with other churches to organize it. At one time the league had 15 teams, including one at Colfax (now UMC) and two at Tainter Evangelical (now UMC). Now players from both churches play on one team. Memomonie UMC joined last year.
What is Dartball?
As the name indicates, dartball is a game based on baseball. Players standing in the Batter’s Box 20 feet away throw darts underhanded at a four-foot square target with a baseball diamond painted on it and areas marked with various possibilities—ball, strike, foul, and out. Single, double, triple and home run are marked with increasingly small white squares on the bases. In other details a game follows baseball, with home and visiting teams, three outs, nine innings, etc. Score sheets like those in baseball are used.
In 1951, the Wisconsin Recreation Association, recognizing a wide range of rules followed throughout the state, set up the Wisconsin State Dartball Committee to write and publish uniform official rules, which came out in 1952. (The earliest game boards were much simpler than the one used today.) The latest revision came out in 2018. The committee also hosts a Hall of Fame, lists tournaments around the state, and sponsors the annual state-wide 9-man tournament. Although not a member of the Wisconsin State Dartball Committee, the local league follows the state rules.
The History of Dartball in Menomonie Area
Dartball was invented by Philadelphia area dart-maker Apex Manufacturing, which had been making darts for the pub dart game since 1913. It introduced the new game and a new dart for it in 1923. At seven-and-a-quarter inches long, with a long steel tip, a wooden barrel and turkey feathers, the Apex #2 dart was an inch and a half longer than the pub dart. Today we’d call it a line extension.
It took five years for the first area league to be organized, but the game quickly spread. The company president later said it spread like Johnny Appleseed as Lutheran ministers took their darts and boards to new churches.
When did dartball reach the Menomonie area and how fast did it grow?
We only have limited information in the 1930s and ‘40s in the then-extensive church listings in the Dunn County News and a few brief mentions elsewhere in the paper. Dunn County fits the pattern described by the Apex president — the early mentions all involved Lutheran churches.
Dartball was already here 11 years after it was invented. The first mention in the Dunn County News is in January 1935 when the Men’s Club at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church mentioned in the church listing that at the next meeting, featuring a business meeting and speaker, “dart ball will be played afterwards.”
That same month Beyer Settlement Lutheran Church north of Colfax mentioned that the youth group girls almost defeated the boys in dartball. The next year, 1936, several couples from Rusk and Menomonie drove to Plum City in Pierce County, to visit a minister and his wife and they played dartball all afternoon. The church was not named. In 1937, North Menomonie Lutheran church (became Christ Church in 1943) was looking for players and in 1938 German Lutheran and Peace Lutheran mentioned it. In 1940, the Luther League of Little Elk Creek installed new equipment in the parlors.
1940 Sports News Briefs – (In this period the News often printed numerous short items under a general heading.) “Recreational sports are increasing in numbers all the time. Badminton and dartball are gaining in popularity in Wisconsin to the extent that state tournaments are being held.” (Today almost nothing is known about the 1939 Wisconsin tournament, even where it was held.)
When did churches begin playing each other? The first mention of competition between churches is in 1940, when Our Savior’s Lutheran from Eau Claire played North Menomonie in March. The next year Elk Mound played Grace from Eau Claire and Colfax Lutheran played Holden. (Writer’s Note: Were other churches playing each other? I believe so, but there’s no mention in the News.)
A major illustration of the popularity of dartball occurred in May 1941 when the Menomonie’s Central school had a dartball tournament with 180 junior and senior boys and girls on 23 teams competed for school champion. There were also class champions for 7th through 10th grade.
That same year Dartball got national attention when Life Magazine, in a several page article, featured Milwaukee, which had 3,000 players in 11 leagues.
The first mention of a non-Lutheran church playing dartball occurred in October 1941 when the Knights of Columbus (from Menomonie’s St. Joseph’s Catholic Church) mentioned playing it after a meeting.
March 1942 Random Sports Briefs – “Dartball is increasing locally in popularity. * * * Latest place that the fever has struck is at the city fire hall where firemen have constructed a dartball target and equipment to be used during spare time.”
1942 saw the first regional tournament when the Chippewa Valley Dart Ball League (Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls churches) sponsored the first Northern Wisconsin Tournament in Eau Claire. Nineteen teams from Menomonie, Elk Mound, Eau Claire and the surrounding area participated. The News devoted considerable space to listing the teams and scores of the games involving local teams that did well. The only teams mentioned were Lutheran churches and three had more than one team—Peace, Iron Creek and St. Paul’s.
The second Northern Wisconsin Tournament, held in 1943, had 24 competing teams. The tournament was won by Iron Creek No. 1 with Peace No. 1 wining the consultation championship. Again, only Lutheran teams are mentioned in the News’ game reports.
September 1944, Random Sports Bits – “Dartball, popular game that has been picking up local interest more and more the last few years, continues to hold its fans. * * * Woodsheds, garages, or what have you, have in many places been conditioned inside and dartball ranges set up. * * * Most of the ranges are equipped with electric lights for night playing.”
In 1945 Cedar Falls (Lutheran) had a club; in 1946 Colfax Lutheran and Colfax Methodist had teams.
1946 saw the first local tournament at Our Savior’s, involving a dozen Lutheran teams from Cedar Falls, North Menomonie,and downtown. In 1947, now the City Tournament, 16 teams competed in the Armory, located where the Stout General Services building is now on South Broadway. Only Lutheran teams are mentioned. Several have multiple teams — Our Savior’s 2, Iron Creek 3, Cedar Falls 3, St. Paul’s 3, Peace 2 – 14 of the 16 teams in the tournament. For the first time, the News published a follow-up story, a large photograph of the winning team, Christ Lutheran (1), in the sports section. The tournament in 1948 was a duplicate of 1947, with one team having a name, the North Menomonie Giants.
1947 City Dartball Champions featured in the Dunn County News
The 1949 Fourth Annual City Tournament grew to 24 teams with 359 players, the largest in the city’s history. New to the tournament were Colfax Methodist, the first non-Lutheran church to participate, Varney Creek (Calvary Chapel at Varney Creek [Lutheran], a rural church located a few miles west of Downsville off 440th Street, now gone), and churches from Spring Brook and Tramway whose denomination I don’t know, also now gone. There were no follow-up stories in 1948 or ‘49. 1949 finds another church mentioned dartball in its listing, Wheeler Evangelical (now UMC).
Menomonie Hosts a Major Tournament
Menomonie hosted a major tournament in 1950 when the 9th Annual Northern Wisconsin Tournament was held at the Menomonie Armory over four days, April 24-28. With 28 teams from as far away as Prairie Farm, this was bigger than the city tournaments so the Dunn County News not only listed the teams playing in the first round on the first two evenings (which it had done before) but afterwards it ran a lengthy follow-up front page story on the event, including a photograph of the winning team — Calvary Church at Varney Creek.
The News reported the Armory was packed the first two evenings with very noisy players and fans. “The noise . . . was greater than at a bowling match and more consistent than at a basketball game. These people take their dartball seriously.” Some of the noise came from the players. “Each time a player came to bat, the opposing team surrounding him on one side, gave him the works in yells, taunts, hisses and what have you.”
For the first time the News explained dartball and described the championship game in some detail, not just giving the score. The article concluded, “Many of the teams have been started in church clubs, although several social clubs were represented.”
There was a greater diversity of teams than in previous tournaments, although Lutherans out-numbered the others. There were other denominations, including Second Congregational (Eau Claire), and Evangelical (probably Memomonie’s First Evangelical United Brethren, merged with Methodist Church in 1967 to become United Methodist), as well as a union, Eau Claire Local 284, and City Shops, city not indicated.
(Writer’s Note: The only other time the News discussed Dartball at length was in the Feb. 18, 1987 issue. Photojournalist Layne Pitt devoted a complete page to four large and one small photos and text to describe how dartball is played. The photos featured players from Iron Creek and Popple Creek in the Colfax Church League.)
The News began publishing weekly “Dartball Standings” in November 1950. Listed were North Menomonie, Cedar Falls, Iron Creek, Peace Lutheran, Our Savior’s, Elk Creek, and Evangelical. It continued publishing standings under various heads and varying regularity until 2012.
The city tournament returned the next year and continued, with two years skipped, until 1957, when a 32-team unnamed tournament replaced it. In 1961, now named the Tri-County Dartball Tournament, with Dunn, Barron, and Eau Claire county teams competing it was held in the high school gym. The next year it moved to the Fish and Game Clubhouse, where it continued being held until 1983.
Dartball Grows, Then Declines
Selected dartball standings show how the sport grew and declined over the years. The 10 teams on the 1960 Church Dartball Standings included Hatchville, Elmwood, and Cedar Falls. The 1970 Dunn County Dartball League standings included nine church teams. The Feb. 13, 1980 listing shows the Dartball League comprised of two leagues, the Commercial League with eight teams and the Dunn County League with nine teams, including two businesses, Jerry’s Elk Point Resort and Water Care, and First Congressional and two teams from both Elk Creek and Cedar Falls. The News also included lengthy lists of recent results and high hitters. In the fall the News only listed the Country League. Did the Commercial League disband or did it stop reporting its results to the paper? There’s no way to know.
January 1990’s list has seven teams, with four business and two churches, Elk Creek and Cedar Falls. The January 2000 list has seven teams, all but one by names so it’s impossible to tell if they are businesses or churches or groups —Brad’s, Bad Dawgs, Old Timers, Emerald Ridge, Fubar, Packers, and Blue Devils. The March 11, 2013 issue of the News included the last list of the Dunn County Dartball League, five teams including one women’s team, Ms Fits. Did the league disband, stop reporting its information, or the News decide to not publish it? I don’t know.
Dartball Still Being Played
Dartball is still somewhat popular in Wisconsin and this area. The Wisconsin State Dartball Committee currently lists 47 active leagues in the state with more than 500 teams playing 2, 4, or 9 man dartball. Eau Claire currently has two leagues, the Commercial league, founded 1946, with 16 teams, and the Chippewa Valley Church league, with 14 teams. Dean & Sue’s had a team in the commercial league until 2021, when Ronald Ford, the team’s organizer died. In 2024 Chippewa Valley hosted the Wisconsin State 9 Man Dartball Tournament at the Northern Wisconsin State Fair Fairgrounds and got television coverage on WEAU.
In the immediate area, the six-team Colfax Church League is the only league. It holds its championship tournament Monday, March 17, at 7 p.m. at the Menomonie United Methodist Church. It will also honor the season champion and the season’s best players.
Any group interested in joining the Colfax Dartball League should contact Kevin Klatt at the Menomonie United Methodist Church, 715-235-0654.
Phil Diser is a former UW-Stout English instructor, PR guy, and publisher of “Visitor’s Guide to Memomonie” 1988-2007.
