Our Past Is Present November 8, 2018

November 8, 2018

            You are reading “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.

            In the spring of 1904 some of Junction City’s prominent citizens determined they would establish a permanent location to enjoy the pleasures of the outdoors and escape the heat of the city during the warm weather months. George Rockwell approached pioneer farmer Tom McKinley and succeeded in obtaining a 20 year lease on all the ground around the small body of water known as “Whiskey Point or “Whiskey Lake” seven miles northeast of Junction City.  This was in the area north of where Marshall Field is now located.

            In April of 1904, a “Country Club” was organized and chartered.  Membership was limited to sixty families. During the first season, each family pitched a tent on the property and the group hired a man and his wife to do the cooking and make beds while club members were in residence. Mail would be delivered to the resident’s cottages every day by a regular mail carrier.    The primary object of the club was fishing and hunting.  The social feature was not at first considered.

 It was about 1915 that golf entered the picture.  Club members rented land on top of Government Hill immediately to the east and it was there that the first course was established.  This was far from an ideal location.  According to the late Mary Liz Montgomery, copperhead snakes were in abundance at that site and golfers often had to compete with grazing cattle for playing space. So, members began to look for an area more conducive to this game.

            The new site was chosen in 1920 on an 80 acre tract of land on the rimrock west of Junction City.  This was purchased by Harry Montgomery, who later sold it to the club at cost.

            The clubhouse was built in 1922.  The fieldstone that formed its exterior was gathered on the site by the families of the charter members. The clubhouse had been given a number of face lifts over time and had been used by local service clubs and organizations in addition to socials and parties for club members.  The Junction City Country Club’s future came in doubt with the death of Harold Johnson in 2007 and later closed.

            This building is currently occupied by Great Life Golf and Fitness.  And… that’s today’s story on “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.