Wilmington Whist Club

It was late in the nineteenth century when a group of Wilmington business and professional men with an interest in the card game known as "whist" founded the Wilmington Whist Club. The Club was organized December 7, 1891, and incorporated in 1895. The rules were eminently uncomplicated; no drinking or gambling was permitted in the clubhouse and no women.

The first clubhouse was located at 1103 Gilpin Avenue; it was rented for $37.50 per month. In March of 1892 the Club moved and rented 1305 West Thirteenth Street. On July 15, 1895 the Wilmington Whist Club entered a new phase of development when it purchased the building at 1303 West Thirteenth Street, providing a permanent home and a base upon which a viable membership could be built.

Membership grew to 145 in 1906, 150 in 1907, and 175 in 1909. Whist was a four-player game, cards were dealt one at a time with the last card to the dealer, being turned to determine trump. One point was scored for each trick in excess of six, and sometimes additional points were given for the ace, king, queen and jack of trumps. Shortly after its formation, the Wilmington Whist Club joined the American Whist League and members entered area tournaments.

The era of whist was passing, however, as auction bridge captured the interest of increasing numbers of players and this led to the Wilmington Whist Club resigning from the American Whist League in 1906. In 1927 a liaison of sorts was formed with the University Club of Wilmington when the Whist Club steward contracted scarlet fever. The clubhouse was closed and fumigated, and the Whist Club accepted the University Club's offer to use their meeting facilities. In 1929, the Wilmington Whist Club acquired a new clubhouse, the former residence of its first president, William H. Swift, at 1309 Delaware Avenue. This location had a billiard room and two bowling lanes along with facilities for a new game called contract bridge. Bridge came onto the American scene early in the 1890s and eventually led to the decline and fall of Whist.

In 1925, Harold S. Vanderbilt, American multi-millionaire and three-time America's Cup winner, changed the course of bridge while on a cruise. He suggested that only tricks bid and made count toward game, with extra tricks counted as bonuses. These revised rules turned auction bridge into contract bridge. He succeeded so well that his game of contract bridge became the staple diet of card players everywhere. Bridge continues to occupy a position of great prestige, and is more comprehensively organized than any other card game.