(Photo courtesy of the Washington County Public Library) Washington Country Club announcement in The Marietta Times.

The original Marietta Country Club (“MCC”) was in Devola near “Country Club Drive.” Cool. But wait! There were TWO country clubs in Marietta in the late 1920’s, each with fascinating histories.

The original MCC was formed in 1900 by local citizens including Col. John H. Mills, A. Dewey Follette, Fidelio Henry, C. Fred Moore, Charles A. Ludey, Frank Penrose, William T. Hastings. These men raised money to build a clubhouse, lease 24 acres from the Devol and Chamberlain farms, and build a 9-hole golf course. The Marietta Register March 21, 1901 effusively announced the planned club. The headline proclaimed “The Marietta Country Club will have Most Delightful Quarters.” Excerpts of the narrative: “The grounds are well arranged…an ideal spot for the indoor and outdoor sports… The building would be old Dutch Colonial architecture…(w)ith wide verandas…On entering the building…you are ushered into the Great Hall,…The dining room …would have a “commanding view of the beautiful Muskingum River… The Golf Links…will occupy a very large area…This game (golf) is… fascinating and gaining national prominence…” The article concluded that “the success of the Marietta Country Club is well assured.”

It seemed counterintuitive that a small rural town in the early 1900’s could support such a club. But Marietta was prosperous then, probably more so than today. There were several major industries thriving at the time. Among them were the Marietta Chair Company, Stevens Piano and Organ, stove manufacturer A. T. Nye and Son, and Strecker Brothers leather goods. There were three large brick yards – Cisler, Acme, and Sterling. Oil and gas production was booming.

MCC became the social center of Marietta. Besides golf, there was dining, card games, tennis, and dances. It was a stop on the Interurban Trolley system. The clubhouse was enlarged in 1908. There were anecdotes about the old country club; one such was told by Mr. Reno Hoag, original owner of the Hotel Lafayette. There was a chicken coop along the fairway of the third hole. One day Hoag caught one of the chickens and carefully placed it on the green laying down with its head folded under its wing. Doing that quieted the bird into a hypnotic-like state. Some chickens do sleep or can be hypnotized like this.

Playing behind Hoag were three of his friends. They approached the green and noticed the “lifeless” chicken. They gingerly jostled the chicken with a putter. They jumped in surprise as it sprang to life and scampered away. No one believed their story of finding a chicken “sleeping” on the green.

(Photo by S. Durward Hoag) Marietta Country Club in Devola.

By the early 1920’s, a separate group within MCC wanted an 18-hole golf course (the Devola course was 9 holes). That group formed the Washington Country Club (“WCC”), purchased land where the current Marietta Country Club is located on Pike Street, and installed an 18-hole golf course. The headline in the photo trumpeted the new clubhouse.

Could Marietta support two country clubs even with “roaring twenties” prosperity? WCC had incurred substantial debt for the construction. The Great Depression put the economy in a tailspin, straining both clubs financially. On June 11, 1933, the MCC clubhouse burned to the ground. Insurance covered most of the loss. The club continued for another year without a clubhouse.

Early in 1934, WCC’s debt and declining revenues forced it into bankruptcy. The property was offered for sale by the Union Joint Stock Land Bank of Detroit for $12,500. MCC purchased the Washington Country Club property. The Marietta Country Club continues today. The Devola land reverted to farming. Soon cabbage, corn, and tomatoes grew where a short time ago Marietta’s elite had gathered for golfing and the country club life.