Shady Rest Golf & Country Club In Scotch Plains Becomes Historic Site

SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ — The National Park Service has granted the Shady Rest Golf and Country Club — the first African-American country club in the United States — a listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Located at 820 Jerusalem Road in Scotch Plains, Shady Rest is now considered a national landmark. It is listed among all the buildings, sites and districts across the nation worthy of preservation because of their significance in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering and culture.

“We could not be more pleased,” said Scotch Plains Mayor Josh Losardo in a statement. “For a number of years, the volunteers of the Preserve Shady Rest Committee, chaired by Tom Donatelli, have been steadily working toward achieving this important designation. The listing will further ensure that Shady Rest will remain an American landmark for perpetuity, enjoyed for generations, protected from development and a living reminder of a dark era in this nation, when African-Americans faced segregation.”

Donatelli said the committee will now aggressively seek government grants for restoration, noting the cost of upkeep had been the sole responsibility of the township, through the Recreation Commission.

“We plan to apply for as much outside funding as we can,” Donatelli said. “This national listing is a great opportunity for us to further care for the building, funding the ongoing renovations that will be needed.”

Longtime member of the Preserve Shady Rest Committee Sylvia Hicks said the federal application process was a detailed, two-and-a-half year effort, which the pandemic slowed down.

During its heyday, Shady Rest was a center of African American recreation and culture, hosting icons like W.E.B. Du Bois, Ella Fitzgerald and Althea Gibson, according to the township.

It was also the home of John Shippen from 1931 to 1964, hailed as America’s first professional golfer who then competed in a U.S. Open in 1896.

A group of Black investors, led by William Willis Sr. of Scotch Plains, created the club out of necessity because private clubs continued to deny membership to African Americans and other minority groups in the 1920s.

At the time, Shady Rest offered six tennis courts, a baseball diamond, skeet shooting and horseback riding.

The tennis and baseball facilities were removed after Scotch Plains took over the site in 1964. This is also when the town leaders renamed the club as Scotch Hills Country Club.

But in recent years, there has been a strong effort to reclaim and celebrate Shady Rest's history.

Last September, the Township Council voted unanimously to revert the name of the golf course back to the Shady Rest Golf and Country Club

That announcement was made exactly 100 years from the day the nine-hole golf course was purchased from the owners of a whites-only country club.

The clubhouse also underwent a $1.1 million, three-phase rehabilitation in 2015 to restore the building to what it appeared like in 1925, based on historic photos. Aluminum siding and aluminum windows were replaced with wood windows and historic features of the building were restored, according to the town.

The 1830s-era chimneys were also repointed, and in the ball room, the historic walls were restored and the fireplace was replastered per the historic photos.

Councilman Matt Adams said now is an ideal time for Scotch Plains residents to revisit Shady Rest and explore its recreational opportunities, such as the public, nine-hole course and the miniature golf course. The clubhouse is also used for social gatherings, community meetings and historic tours.

“For those who attended our July 3 fireworks at Shady Rest, it was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect and explore the country club,” Adams said. “As we continue to renovate and expand recreational facilities town-wide, we hope many residents who have not yet visited Shady Rest take the opportunity to experience this local, and now nationally-listed, treasure.”

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