The Skenandoa Club History
On an October evening in 1890, twelve young Clintonians, six of whom were Hamilton College graduates, gathered at E.S Williams' Law Office on West Park Row to organize a social club. Their names were James R. Benton, Frank F. Blair, Edward N. Bryden, Edward R. Everett, Charles M. Groves, Charles T. Ives, Fred B. King, Duncan C. Lee, O.W.Mott, William E. Mott, H. Platt Osborn and Charles E. Williams.
With no money and no more lofty purpose than a vague notion that it would be nice to have a place to meet,
talk, play cards and perhaps read a news paper or magazine, they drew up a set of bylaws. That their effort
survived on such a shaky premise seems something of a miracle. Because it did, the Skenandoa Club, off
Norton Avenue near what old-timer were wont to call Salt Point, celebrated its 100th anniversary on October 17, 1990.
To these charter members the club owes its Identity. As a name they selected that of the famed Chief of the Oneida Indians, a wise, old sachem who lived to the ripe old age of 110 and today lies buried in the nearby Hamilton College cemetery.
Originally located in second floor rooms of the present Allen block at the corner of College and Williams Streets, in 1897 it moved to larger quarters on the upper floor of them new Hayes Bank building on Kirkland Avenue. There it remained for the next 67 years.
During the early days, whist, auction bridge, soon followed by contract, billiards, an occasional home-talent play, or "feed" were the club's most strenuous activities. Then in 1923, the picture changed, never again to be quite the same. In that July, Hamilton College generously offered the summer use of its golf and tennis facilities, and annual courtesy that extended without interruption for the next 41 years.
Eventually, increasing membership as a result of the growing popularity of golf, made other arrangements desirable and necessary. Spearheaded by the late John W. Boynton, action was initiated in the early 1960's to locate a suitable site for the development of club-owned facilities. The present beautiful 175-acre complex, once the Albert Mair farm, is the result.
Purchased in 1965, the Skenandoa Club now offers recreational facilities for father, mother, son and daughter, including tennis courts, a pool, spacious, air-conditioned clubhouse, and a challenging 6,500 yard eighteen hole golf course.
From a lonely dozen in search of a home in 1890, The Skenandoa today has grown to over 300 families.
Philip E. Munson, 1984