Hutch Post, in partnership with Steve Harmon and the Conard-Harmon Collection, is proud to present Throwback Thursday. Enjoy a weekly release from Steve Harmon as he presents the "Hutch - Then & Now Collection."
STEVE HARMON
Hutch Post Contributor
Today's "Throwback Thursday Collection" takes us to the southeast corner of East 11th Avenue and North Halstead.
This is part one of a three-part series on the history of golfing in Hutchinson.
The very first golf course was at 1st and Town streets, over to Halstead Street, in 1901. It had nine holes, sand greens and a swimming pond.
From 1904 to 1906, there was a nine-hole course on the south and east sides of the old fairgrounds property, from about 11th Avenue to 13th Avenue, and east of Main Street to Maple Street.
In 1905, Hutchinson got serious about golf and opened an 18-hole, grass-green country club just east of 11th Avenue and Halstead Street, and South to 4th Avenue. The first photo shows the Hutchinson Country Club about 1918.
The second photo shows the clubhouse and an array of golfers posing out front with their equipment.
Alas, bad luck beset the property. The Soda Ash plant just west of this course produced a lot of fly ash that eventually killed the trees and grass greens. This caused the club to move, with the Soda Ash plant agreeing to pay the club $400 an acre for the land in 1921. The third photo shows the property today where the Hutchinson Country Club was located, now owned by the Evergy Electric Company and used as a storage facility.
Part two of this series continues next Thursday with "The Move."
To purchase a print, contact: [email protected].
Throwback Thursday is brought to you by:
Gambino's Pizza
Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce
STRATACA Kansas Underground Salt Museum
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