HistoryA Permanent Abode

In May 1941, a number of clubs that were members of the Argentine Hurling Federation came together to form the Hurling Club. It was a major challenge to integrate what had until then been a number of disparate clubs with bitter rivalries. As hurling had been abandoned, many of the ex-hurlers began to take up field hockey.
 
The newly formed Hurling Club was soon on the move for a second time, as a consequence of the city government’s street building programme. Exasperated by the repeated need to relocate its grounds, the committee decided in late 1942 to find a site for purchase. An ambitious fundraising initiative was commenced, which included a small bond issue. By the end of 1945 the club had raised sufficient funds to enable the purchase of seven and a half hectares of what had been agricultural grazing land in the district of Hurlingham, in Greater Buenos Aires. The club was finally inaugurated on 25 May 1948 and for the first time in its history it had a permanent premises. The first official game to be played at the new grounds was a men’s hockey match against the Chilean-German team, Club Deportivo Manquehue from Santiago in Chile. There was also a rugby game against the Pacific Railway & Athletic Club de Saénz Peña, now Club Atlético Ferrocarril General San Martín, which Hurling won by 8-6. The club went from strength to strength in the early 1950s.
 
The date of 14 February 1955 was to be an inauspicious one in the club’s history, when an electrical short circuit caused a fire that burnt the wooden clubhouse to the ground. Only part of the locker room was to escape the flames. As a measure of the standing the club had achieved among the English-speaking community and indeed the wider community, there were many acts of solidarity which helped the club get back on its feet again. Hurlingham Club provided a marquee to serve as a hall and a bar and the Círculo de Villa Devoto sports and social club opened its doors to members of the Hurling Club so that they could use its facilities. The Pacific Railway Club organised several fundraising events to enable the re-building of the clubhouse. A group of club members who had knowledge of the construction sector, known as Los Horneros, led the rebuilding work in what was a significant voluntary effort.
 
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