South Side Sportsmen's Club was a recreational club that catered to the wealthy businessmen of Long Island during the

gold coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

era from the 1870s through the 1960s. Its main clubhouse and other facilities were added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

as the Southside Sportsmens Club District in 1973, and are today contained within the

Connetquot River State Park Preserve Connetquot River State Park Preserve is a state park and conservation area in the Town of Islip in Suffolk County, New York in the United States. The park contains the Long Island Environmental Interpretive Center as well as the Southside Sp ...

History

In 1886, a club was formed and chartered under the name of "The South Side Sportsmen's Club of Long Island". The first article of the constitution of the association stated, "This club is established for the protection of game birds and fish and for the promotion of social intercourse among its members." By 1907 there were one hundred members including George Slade,

William Bayard Cutting William Bayard Cutting (January 12, 1850 – March 1, 1912), a member of New York's merchant aristocracy, was an attorney, financier, real estate developer, sugar beet refiner and philanthropist. Cutting and his brother Fulton started the sugar ...

, John Cochrane, Frank Hall, George De Witt, Esq., Daniel Fearing, Frederic Rhinelander, W.K. Vanderbilt, Alfred Wagstaff, Jr., Esq., and H.B. Hollins. Herbert R. Clarke was an honorary member. Included among guests was

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

. In 1908 the club owned and leased an additional from the Breeze family. The Connetquot Brook runs through the property for a distance of about from railroad to railroad. This Brook empties into Great South Bay. Its lower part is known today as "Great River", but on older maps and on the government maps it is shown as the "

Connetquot River The Connetquot River (also known as Great River) is a river in Islip, New York. It is one of the four longest rivers on Long Island and is recognized by the state as a Wild, Scenic and Recreational River. It is particularly known for its broo ...

". The Long Island Railroad once had a stop between Great River and Oakdale for the Sportsman's Club. The stop was called the "Clubhouse". It was abandoned in the first half of the twentieth century. The South Side Sportsmen's Club promoted many of the laws protecting game not only on Long Island but throughout the state. The club is no longer in existence, and the property is now part of the

owned by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Facilities

The club's facilities included a main clubhouse building, a smaller residence building, and an old wheat and corn-grinding gristmill built c.1750 and operated until 1878, among other service buildings, that are still standing in the

. Part of the main building built in 1820 was originally Snedecor's Tavern (known as "Obe Snedecor's") owned by Eliphalet (Liff) Snedecor on the old stage road. The "shingle style" clubhouse was the first building designed by architect

Bradford Gilbert Bradford Lee Gilbert (March 24, 1853 – September 1, 1911) was a nationally active American architect based in New York City. He is known for designing the Tower Building in 1889, the first steel-framed building anywhere and the first skyscr ...

. Between 1866 and 1973, it was used as the clubhouse. Members and their guests used the residence when visiting for fishing, sporting clays and other types of outdoor recreation. The main clubhouse contains an elaborate library, billiard room, dining hall, clubhouse room, and various bedrooms. Currently the building houses the New York State Regional Environmental Education Office and Interpretive Center, historic exhibits and Outdoor Learning Laboratory of BOCES Scope. South Side Sportsmen's Club was added to the

in 1973. ''See also:'' It is now a meeting place for the Vanderbilt Historical Society and other groups.

References

*http://www.friendsofconnetquot.org/PDFs/article-2012-08-03-Fire-Island-Tide.pdf *http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/29/nyregion/threat-to-old-building-in-preserve.html *http://parks.ny.gov/parks/8/details.aspx
The South Side Sportsmen's Club of Long Island
by Davis, Gherardi; privately printed (The Gilliss Press), 1909

External links

New York State Parks: Connetquot River State Park Preserve

Friends of Connetquot

Lecture: Cultural History of the Southside Sportsmen's Club

Dowling L.I. South Shore history pictures of South Side Sportsmens Club

By gone L.I. Southside Sportsman's Club (Connetquot State Park)

Officers, members, constitution and rules of the Southside sportsmen's club
{{IslipNY History of New York (state) Suffolk County, New York Islip (town), New York Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Houses completed in 1866 Clubhouses in New York (state) Men's club buildings Gentlemen's clubs in New York (state) 1886 establishments in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Suffolk County, New York Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)