Among Rye’s many attractions are its seven historic clubs, including three that have existed for more than 100 years. (For sketches of American Yacht Club, Apawamis Club, and Coveleigh Club, which appeared in last month’s column, see ryerecord.com.)
Continued here are historical sketches of the other four clubs, one of which is in Harrison, but its beach club is in Rye.
Manursing Island Club
A group of Rye residents bought 65 acres on Manursing Island and opened the Manursing Island Club in 1912. Some of its early members may have transferred from the older Rye Lawn Tennis Club, but Manursing offered not only tennis but also a swimming pool, a sandy beach, and an attractive club house.
The club’s certificate of incorporation provided for “the enjoyment of outdoor and indoor sports, games, and pastimes of every kind.” However, when the club opened, The Rye Chronicle reported that “it did not plan to compete with the American Yacht Club or Apawamis Club.”
The club’s rules for proper bathing attire required tops for men until after World War II. Another long-standing house rule read: “No pistol or rifle shooting on club premises.” An exception was made, however, for trap shooting, which was a popular cold weather sport at the club for more than 50 years.
In the 1940s the club held occasional exhibition tennis matches featuring such well-known stars as Don Budge, Bill Tilden, Vincent Richards, and Alice Marble. Over the years, some of the best tennis players in the area have been Manursing members.
In 1934, the American Platform Tennis Association (APTA) was formed with Fox Meadow Tennis Club in Scarsdale, the Field Club in Greenwich, and Manursing as charter members. The APTA men’s championship tournament has been won by many members of Manursing over the last 90 years, beginning in 1940 with the team of Witherbee Black, Jr. and Paul DeF. Hicks, Sr. (this writer’s father).
Rye Golf Club
In 1853, the William Chapman family moved into their new residence, called Whitby Castle, on a large estate in Rye. The property was later sold to the family of Joseph Park, a co-founder of the Park & Tilford Company.
In 1921, 40 acres were purchased from the Park family and combined with an adjacent estate to form the Rye Country Club. After the Great Depression struck in 1929, the Rye Country Club fell onto hard times and eventually filed for bankruptcy in 1936.
The club site was known in following years by five different names, including Ryewood Country Club. When Ryewood’s financial problems became known, a group of concerned citizens, in conjunction with the Rye City Council, formed the Citizens Advisory Council (CAC) to deal with the Ryewood property
In 1964, the acquisition of the club and property was approved by Rye taxpayers, who voted for the city to purchase the club solely for the use of people living in Rye. The city took possession of the club and its grounds in the spring of 1965.
Since then, the property has been operated as a publicly owned membership facility with an 18-hole golf course and an Olympic-size swimming pool. In recent years, Whitby Castle has been operated as a public restaurant and catering facility by independent contractors.
Today the club occupies 126 acres overlooking Milton Harbor. Though the original purpose for the city’s acquisition of the property was for the exclusive use of its residents, it is no longer necessary to be a Rye taxpayer to qualify for membership in the club and there is a separate non-resident category.
Shenorock Shore Club
According to the Shenorock website, the club was preceded at its location by the Milton Point Casino, which opened in 1924 (casino did not have a gambling connotation then).
By the end of World War II, however, the club had closed, and the property was for sale.
It was purchased at auction in 1946 by Ralph Manny, a public-spirited Rye resident, who was then commodore of the nearby American Yacht Club. Manny, named his club “Shenorock” after a leader of the local Native Americans, who had sold the land to the original settlers of Rye.
The small Sea Horse Yacht Club, overlooking Milton Harbor, was purchased later and became Shenorock’s clubhouse during the winter months. Additional land was acquired from an adjacent Wainwright estate to make room for a pool, picnic area, and paddle tennis courts. In 1966, Ralf Manny celebrated the 50th anniversary of Shenorock with the sale of the club to its members.
Westchester Country Club
In 1919, John McEntee Bowman, then president of the Commodore and Biltmore Hotels in New York City, purchased 583 acres in Harrison, and the Westchester Biltmore Country Club was completed in 1922. At the same time a beach and pool club for the members was opened on 62 acres of shorefront next door to the Manursing Island Club in Rye.
Because of financial losses, the club was purchased by its members in 1929 and renamed the Westchester Country Club. It has remained an important area landmark ever since, celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2004.
Among the club’s many facilities are a multistoried residential clubhouse, two championship 18-hole golf courses, and a former polo field, now used for golf practice. It was from that field in 1928 that local resident Amelia Earhart took off on the first solo flight by a woman to the West Coast and back.
Over the years, the Westchester Country Club has been the site of numerous important golf tournaments, including the Westchester Classic and the Buick Classic. Since their inception in 1967, the Classic tournaments raised more than $30 million for United Hospital and other area hospitals.
Note: The drawings of the clubs, originally published in The Rye Chronicle, were made in the 1930s by Whitman Bailey except for Shenorock, which did not yet exist.
