Breaking the Color Barrier at Shady Rest

There seems to be something about Union County and historic golf courses.

First, there was the Oak Ridge Golf Course in Clark, whose grounds and clubhouse witnessed portions of the Battle of the Short Hills during the Revolution.

And recently I discovered the Shady Rest Golf and Country Club, now operating as the Scotch Hills Golf Course in Scotch Plains. While portions of its clubhouse date back to the 1700s, it's notable for two distinctions far more recent: its status as the nation's first African-American owned and operated country club, and as the home course of John Shippen, the first African American golfer to play in the U.S. Open.

Originally owned by Ephraim Tucker and later the site of George Osborn's Tavern, the house and surrounding 31 acres of rolling fields were purchased by the Westfield Golf Club in 1897. The organization converted the farmland to a nine-hole golf course and renovated the farmhouse/tavern into a clubhouse, opening the club in 1900. While the course was popular with its members, the surrounding neighborhood was equally as attractive to the growing African American community that settled there, reducing the acreage available when the club wanted to expand its course to 18 holes. Rather than getting into land disputes with its neighbors, the WGC chose to merge with its Cranford counterpart in 1921, relocating both organizations to the current site of the Echo Lake Country Club.

Seeing an opportunity to organize a country club for the regional African American community, the Progressive Realty Company stepped in and bought the property. What resulted was Shady Rest, marketed as a place "where respectable men and women can come and enjoy the real and outdoor life, and indulge in wholesome, healthful sports, as Golf, Tennis, Croquet, Horseback Riding and Shooting.”

It didn't take long before the club attracted the cream of both the athletic and artistic worlds. Well before she broke the Grand Slam racial barrier with her win at the French Open, Althea Gibson won the club's mixed doubles championship with her coach Sydney Llewellen. The club also became well known for its entertainment, drawing jazz legends including Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughn, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald, who enthralled club members while others enjoyed the music from outside Shady Rest's gates.

Perhaps most notable, however, is its association with John Shippen, the first American-born competitor in the U.S. Open. A 16 year old self-taught golfer, he'd broken the sport's unspoken color line in 1896 when he played in the Open at the course where he caddied, Long Island's Shinnecock Hills. Later playing in four other Opens, Shippen was nonetheless denied membership in the Professional Golfers Association due to its exclusionary policies. Their loss, however, was Shady Rest's gain; he served as the club's pro from 1931 until 1960. (More information on Shippen's life and achievements is available on an informative website maintained by a foundation organized in his name.)

Like many other organizations, Shady Rest experienced financial strains during the Great Depression, and the town of Scotch Plains acquired the property through a tax lien. Assuming operation of the club in 1964, the town converted it to a public course, which it remains today. To the eyes of this very novice duffer, the rolling hills of Shady Rest appear to be a nice challenge for an afternoon on the links, and the greens fees are more than reasonable, even for non-residents. There's even a very attractive miniature golf range for those who would rather limit their frustrations to a minimum.

If recent events are any indication, the people of Scotch Plains know the treasure they have in Shady Rest. Listed among the state's 10 most endangered historic sites by Preservation New Jersey in 2008, the course and clubhouse were recently granted nearly $140,000 by the township council to finance repairs. While the old farmhouse is unrecognizable beneath the renovations and additions made since Tucker and Osborn owned it, it's well worth preserving for what it represents: the social and recreational pursuits of the black middle class in New Jersey.

Saving a bit of defiant pluck: the Frazee house and the Revolution

It's a bit disconcerting when you find out a historic place you thought was being preserved is, in fact, not quite there, or not even close. Ivan had that experience when he brought me to Fair Lawn's Naugle House last year, only to discover it vacant and in disrepair. My own experience occurred the other day when I stumbled across the Frazee House on Raritan Road in Scotch Plains. While I'd never visited, I'd heard enough about the house's story to assume that either the county or the township had made it into a museum.

Look carefully to the left of the white boarded windows,
and you'll see a representation of Betty Frazee,
bread in hand.

The house may be just a simple farmstead, but its story symbolizes the attitudes of local residents during the Revolution. By 1777, New Jerseyans had already gotten a strong taste of what the war would bring them: frequent troop movements, raids on their crops, looting and worse. The previous winter, British troops had come through, stealing, pillaging and physically assaulting women and children, leaving a former Loyalist stronghold both traumatized and poorer. No doubt, the experience prompted many state residents to adjust their sympathies toward the patriot cause.

Surviving accounts suggest that Gershom and Betty Frazee supported Washington's troops by feeding the militia during the Battle of Short Hills in June 1777. It's said that on June 26, following the fight, General Cornwallis led his British troops past the Frazee farmstead. Smelling freshly baked bread, Cornwallis stopped at the house and asked for a loaf. Obviously, asking was a bit of a formality, considering the out-and-out thievery his troops had committed over the past many months, but it's safe to assume he'd have thought it was the gentlemanly thing to do. Betty Frazee likely knew she didn't have a choice, but she made her feelings known. Handing him the bread, she famously said, "Your lordship will understand that I give this bread, not in love, but in fear."

Cornwallis is said to have declined and moved on, but records suggest that his troops availed themselves of other items on the Frazee property, including livestock and household goods.

When I read up a bit about the house, I understood why I'd assumed the property was in serviceable shape. Like a lot of old colonial-era houses in New Jersey, it had been used as a residence for most of its existence, with its occupants making various improvements and updates along the way. The property stayed in the family until the 1890s, when a complex situation resulted in small plots being deeded to several descendants, and the house and a much smaller portion of land being sold to another family. For much of the second half of the 20th century, the property was the home of the Terry Lou Zoo, whose owners lived in the house. Subsequent owners held the site for only brief periods of time, and on 1998 the township of Scotch Plains took it by eminent domain with plans to make it a park.

Fortunately, the property around the house remains undeveloped; the old zoo structures have been taken down, and the immediate neighborhood still has a rustic feel to it. There doesn't appear to be any danger of encroaching McMansions or townhouses. Nonetheless, Preservation New Jersey added the house to its most endangered list in 2000.

State and county historical grants have funded some internal structural work and necessary archaeological study, but the house is far from saved. Fortunately it's also gotten support from the local Rotary Club, which is working closely with the township on the slow process of bringing the Frazee house back to beneficial use.