Facade	Facade Detail	Left Rear Oblique	Rear Elevation	Street Sign

The All Star Bowling Lanes and its parking lot is significant for its role in the confrontation at South Carolina State College during February of 1968, commonly referred to as the “Orangeburg Massacre.” Most of Orangeburg’s public accommodations desegregated soon after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but the management of the All Star Bowling Lanes refused to do so claiming that such establishments were not covered under the new law. As the city’s only bowling alley, this segregationist policy inflamed local African-Americans, especially the students at S.C. State and Claflin. Desegregation attempts in the years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were unsuccessful. In 1968, protests occurred in the bowling alley on January 29 and February 5. On February 6 a violent confrontation occurred in the bowling alley’s parking lot. These events culminated two nights later with the shooting on the campus of S.C. State. The significance of the property is further increased by the ineligibility of other properties associated with the shooting at S.C. State due to demolition or loss of integrity. The bowling alley was built in the early 1960s as part of a shopping center development. The current commercial setting for the All Star Bowling Lanes is the same as its historic one. Listed in the National Register August 7, 1996.

View the complete text of the nomination form for this National Register property. In addition, the Historic Resources of the Civil Rights Movement in Orangeburg County, 1955-1971 includes historical background information for this and other related National Register properties.

Most National Register properties are privately owned and are not open to the public. The privacy of owners should be respected. Not all properties retain the same integrity as when originally documented and listed in the National Register due to changes and modifications over time.

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