Reading Country Club secures place in history
The site owned by Exeter Township is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Exeter Township, PA —
Add the Reading Country Club to the roll of 137 other Berks County sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The country club owned by Exeter Township was added to the list in May.
The 134-acre site at 5311 Perkiomen Ave. includes an 18-hole golf course, completed between 1923 and 1925; a 1931 Tudor Revival style clubhouse, designed by Reading architect Harry Maurer; and a 1931 golf shop.
“The reason it is so significant is that it has a nearly intact example of an Alexander Finlay course,” said Tom Walker, who prepared the nomination form for the township.
Findlay, a native of Scotland, found the lack of golf courses in the U.S. disappointing and set out to popularize the game.
He is credited with designing more than 200 American courses and introducing golf west of the Mississippi River.
The Reading Eagle devoted two pages on Oct. 22, 1922, to the progress of the club's golf course, Walker said. The article included comments from Findlay, who was by then considered “the father of American golf.”
Findlay also designed the first nine holes of the Galen Hall Golf Course in South Heidelberg Township and the 18-hole Manor Golf Club in Spring Township. He consulted on the design of the Berkshire Country Club course in Bern Township.
The prolific course designer was living near Norristown when he was contracted by the Reading Country Club, Walker said.
It was Findlay's idea to position the clubhouse near the ninth and 18th greens when members voted to vacate Bishop Hall — the 18th century Georgian-style mansion near the entrance to the club — in favor of a new club facility.
The clubhouse with its prominent Norman-style towers is now used by the township as an event venue.
In December, the township evicted JMH Inc. from the building over a liquor license dispute. The company ran ViVa, the restaurant and banquet business in the clubhouse.
The clubhouse is not the only one of Reading architect Maurer's designs on the National Register.
He also designed the Tudor-revival style 20-room Yuengling mansion in 1913. The Pottsville landmark was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
A rare accolade
Of the approximately 90,000 properties on the National Register of Historic Places, fewer than 100 are golf courses, including six in Pennsylvania and two miniature golf courses. Golf courses on the register include:- Elk Country Club, Ridgeway, Elk County.
- Foxburg Country Club and Golf Course, Clarion County.
- Hershey Country Club, Hershey, Dauphin County.
- Longue View Club and Golf Course, Penn Hills Township, Allegheny County.
- Merion Golf Club, East and West courses, Haveford Township, Delaware County.
- Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Allegheny County.
- Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Ga.
- Baltusrol Golf Club, Springfield, N.J.
- Ridgewood Country Club, Paramus, N.J.