Просмотр новости
Найдите то, что Вас интересует
Спутники
РН
SpaceX
Роскосмос
NASA
109 years ago, Cheshire Country Club was a first of its kind
Дата публикации: 22-02-2026 20:16:59
Country clubs in America first started popping up around 140 years ago, and back then they were only for white people.
It wouldn’t be until the early 1900s that the first Black country club would open, and it happened in Cheshire. It was a place of luxury, exclusivity, and an escape.
On the corner of West Main Street and Mountain Road in Cheshire, grass and weeds grow, fighting to break through the pavement.
The traffic is noisy and constant but 100 years ago, it was a quiet and remote rural road.
It was where the Cheshire Country Club once stood, a club owned by Black people, for Black people.
Its success was documented in 1917 in the New York Age, a prominent Black newspaper. The article said, “With the opening of the Cheshire Country Club in this place, Connecticut has what is probably the only country club for colored people in this country.”
Raechel Guest, the director of the Silas Bronson Library in Waterbury, stumbled upon the clippings when looking for something else.
“What I learned about the Cheshire Country Club was so significant,” Guest said. “This was the first African American country club in the country, and it was created at a time, a very dark period in our nation’s history.”
An article in the Detroit Free Press printed in 1919 says the idea for the club came from a Waterbury man named Johnson Haile, a chef and “a leading caterer of Waterbury.” He and a board of governors approved applications for 200 club members.
“The Cheshire Country Club, was started by people in Waterbury who had moved up here from the deep south,’ Guest said. “These were people who knew just how bad it could be in other places in this country.”
Accessible newspaper archives didn’t contain pictures, but descriptions of the club said it was a two-story structure with a veranda that ran along the entire length of the house. The inside included a reception room for parities and smaller rooms for billiards and lounging. The property also had tennis courts and a five-hole golf course.
“If you live someplace where you’re constantly on edge, being able to go someplace where you can genuinely relax and enjoy the best things in life, that means so much,” Guest said.
Newspapers printed various events that happened at the club like banquets, dinners with federal officials, and dances. The spectacles and location drew in people from Connecticut and beyond.
“I think one of the lessons from this story is that these are people who lived in an incredibly dangerous time period, who faced overwhelming obstacles, still managed to be successful,” Guest said.
It’s unclear when the club closed, but the Cheshire Historical Society believes the club was turned into a shopping and office building.
The club’s opening in 1917 beats the Shady Rest Country Club in Scotch Plains, New Jersey that claims to be the first Black country club, but it didn’t open until 1921, making the Cheshire Country Club a piece of Connecticut history worth remembering.
Основное содержимое страницы с новостью.
Country clubs in America first started popping up around 140 years ago, and back then they were only for white people.
It wouldn’t be until the early 1900s that the first Black country club would open, and it happened in Cheshire. It was a place of luxury, exclusivity, and an escape.
On the corner of West Main Street and Mountain Road in Cheshire, grass and weeds grow, fighting to break through the pavement.
The traffic is noisy and constant but 100 years ago, it was a quiet and remote rural road.
It was where the Cheshire Country Club once stood, a club owned by Black people, for Black people.
Its success was documented in 1917 in the New York Age, a prominent Black newspaper. The article said, “With the opening of the Cheshire Country Club in this place, Connecticut has what is probably the only country club for colored people in this country.”
Raechel Guest, the director of the Silas Bronson Library in Waterbury, stumbled upon the clippings when looking for something else.
Connecticut In Color
“What I learned about the Cheshire Country Club was so significant," Guest said. "This was the first African American country club in the country, and it was created at a time, a very dark period in our nation's history.”
An article in the Detroit Free Press printed in 1919 says the idea for the club came from a Waterbury man named Johnson Haile, a chef and “a leading caterer of Waterbury.” He and a board of governors approved applications for 200 club members.
“The Cheshire Country Club, was started by people in Waterbury who had moved up here from the deep south,' Guest said. "These were people who knew just how bad it could be in other places in this country.”
Accessible newspaper archives didn't contain pictures, but descriptions of the club said it was a two-story structure with a veranda that ran along the entire length of the house. The inside included a reception room for parities and smaller rooms for billiards and lounging. The property also had tennis courts and a five-hole golf course.
“If you live someplace where you're constantly on edge, being able to go someplace where you can genuinely relax and enjoy the best things in life, that means so much," Guest said.
Newspapers printed various events that happened at the club like banquets, dinners with federal officials, and dances. The spectacles and location drew in people from Connecticut and beyond.
“I think one of the lessons from this story is that these are people who lived in an incredibly dangerous time period, who faced overwhelming obstacles, still managed to be successful," Guest said.
It’s unclear when the club closed, but the Cheshire Historical Society believes the club was turned into a shopping and office building.
The club’s opening in 1917 beats the Shady Rest Country Club in Scotch Plains, New Jersey that claims to be the first Black country club, but it didn’t open until 1921, making the Cheshire Country Club a piece of Connecticut history worth remembering.
Схожие новости
| # | Наименование новости | Тональность | Информативность | Дата публикации |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Organization aims to introduce more kids of color to winter sports | 0 | 4.9 | 12-02-2026 |
| 2 | The Country Club Comeback Is Less About Golf Than Gated Belonging | 0 | 6.81 | 10-08-2026 |
| 3 | New Haven shop expands Korean culture with new restaurant | 0 | 5.02 | 14-05-2026 |
| 4 | State report shows violent, property crimes both decreased | 2 | 7 | 23-06-2026 |
| 5 | America’s Black Ambassadors: A Historical Snapshot | 0 | 8.4 | 01-11-2025 |
| 6 | The story of Chinese Americans who call Texas home | 0 | 6.96 | 13-03-2025 |
| 7 | Two arrested after striking police cars, leading officers on multi-town chase | 0 | 8 | 28-05-2026 |
| 8 | Historian recounts migration that helped build Black community in Sioux City, Iowa | 0 | 5 | 28-01-2026 |
| 9 | Welcome to Evanston, where woke never died | 0 | 5 | 31-05-2026 |
| 10 | Black History Month: Take a ride on the African American Heritage Trail in Williamsburg | 0 | 5 | 27-02-2026 |
Классификация: . Схожих патентов: 0. Схожих новостей: 10. Тональность: 0. Информативность: 7.17. Источник: www.nbcconnecticut.com.