The Manor Club
Introduction
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The Manor Club
The Manor Club
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The Manor club had its beginnings as early as the 1870s, but it wasn't formally established until 1882 as an exclusive social club for men in the Pelham area. The club required each member to pay an annual fee of $12 for their membership, during its heyday it was the center of social activities for the community. Although it was established as a men’s club, the clubhouse created a Tuesday afternoon club to be used by the wives of existing members for social gatherings without their husbands. The creation of this special club for women was consistent with the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century the formation of the growing women's social rights movement at the time.
The Club provided opportunities for socialization, education and the development of managerial skills. One such opportunity came in 1913 when the Club encountered financial difficulties and handed over management to the Tuesday Afternoon Club, who saved the clubhouse. Encouraged by the revitalization of the club, members became more involved in politics. And in response to famous newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst's political activities at the time, the club women called upon the local council to bar all of his publications from the Manor's newsstands.
The present clubhouse was built during the years 1921-1922 in the Tudor Revival style of architecture. The clubhouse features a pristine bowling alley, billiards room, card, and reading room, as well as four tennis courts which are well used. The Manor Club is also known for their fine theater company.
Today, the Manor Club is still a social club and offers a club membership for the various club programs they provide. They also rent their venue space for social gatherings such as corporate events, meetings/conferences, bar/bat mitzvahs, and many other special occasions.
Sources
- "Historic Pelham: Early History of the Manor Club in the Village of Pelham Manor." Historic Pelham. Last modified February 15, 2010. https://historicpelham.blogspot.com/2010/02/early-history-of-manor-club-in-village.html.
- The Manor Club, National Register of Historic Places. Accessed November 12th 2020.
- The Manor Club of Pelham. Accessed November 12, 2020. https://themanorclubofpelham.org/.
Courtesy of Westchester County Historical Society
Courtesy of Westchester County Historical Society