Then & Now: Lincolnshire Country Club – Crete

Country clubs in America originated in the 1890s as elite, family-oriented havens usually emphasizing golf, but they have never been just about golf or even sports.

Clubs fostered sportsmanship, appropriate deportment, and social development while also providing openings for exercise.

A “golden age” of country clubs, which is a loosely defined period, began in the first few decades of the 20th century and lasted until the Great Depression of the 1930s. The number of clubs grew again in the prosperous decades after World War II and with the continuing suburban boom of the late 20th century.

As clubs proliferated and served a greater variety of members, they reflected the changing culture and economic importance of leisure activities in the 20th and early 21st centuries.

The “country club movement,” as some historians termed it, began in the 1890s as recreational golf swept the country. During the economic depression of the 1890s, many privileged men turned to golf as a cheaper alternative to yachting, polo and hunting.

With suburbanization in the early 20th century, and an increasing emphasis on leisure, sporting activities also gained popularity among the middle class. It has been noted that by some social commentators that the desire of women to play sports as the most significant factor in the growth of country clubs, which, unlike earlier men’s clubs, seemed more family-oriented.  It can be noted that the forerunners of the modern country club included men’s city clubs, union leagues, urban athletic clubs, and resort casinos (clubhouses).

Country clubs quickly became popular in counties surrounding Chicago as more people took up golf, tennis and swimming and desired more places to socialize. Locals were introduced to golf while traveling, particularly to France and Great Britain, and returned stateside to establish clubs.

Most country club founders were heads of families who desired a conveniently located family club where they and their family could enjoy respite from the city.

The founding of some early clubs followed the pattern of leasing or purchasing country estates or farms and adapting the existing residences for new uses. In other instances, vacant land, often farmland, was purchased for new development.

There was a fear that organized sports drew people away from church and prompted people to engage in sinful activities such as gambling and drinking. In Illinois, as in other states, though, such restrictions became unpopular and not all communities enforced these laws locally.

Before 1920, and the prohibition of alcohol, some clubs banned drinking for religious reasons while others did so to preserve the family atmosphere that made these clubs different from men’s clubs or even many single-sport clubs. Membership categories even in the earliest years included both individual and family categories, and some clubs offered junior as well as social-only memberships.

Besides sporting facilities, country clubs also provided spaces for socializing and entertainment. Theaters, ballrooms, dining rooms, men’s grille rooms, ladies’ parlors and tea rooms, a variety of sitting rooms, porches and verandas offered ample opportunity for members to socialize.

In Will County during the 1920s, a group of investors led by Sam Homan purchased nearly 1,200 acres of farmland in Crete for a unique land development.

The land development was to include a country club, four golf courses, tennis courts, trap shooting pits, a swimming pool, ten miles of bridle path, a large lake, and parcels of land for summer homes.

The developers named the adventure Lincolnshire to link it to the racetrack Lincoln Fields being constructed south of town. Lincolnshire Country Club celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2002.

Since its beginning in 1927, the country club, with its scenic beauty and wooded and wetland areas, has been an important part of the community of Crete.