Woman's Club of Eustis

Early settlers migrated to what is now Eustis, Florida in 1875. In January 1876, A. S. Pendry, a prominent settler, homesteaded the area, and in 1877, he built the first hotel in what was then called Pendryville. The first post office was located within the hotel with Pendry serving as the first postmaster. By 1880, a narrow-gauge railroad called the St. Johns River and Lake Eustis Railroad was started. This was one of the first railroads built south of Jacksonville, and it was extended to Eustis in 1883. In 1881, the town was incorporated, and the name was officially changed to Eustis.  

Northerners continued to move to Florida in the 1880s and 1890s, and Eustis, with its fine winter weather, beautiful lake, and highlands became a favorite place for winter residents and tourists. Clubs were formed for the various states represented by the winter visitors. Members of these groups staged many social activities, including dramatic productions; card, motor, and boating parties; and annual picnics. The Eustis Gun Club sponsored a nationally known trapshooting tournament annually, known as the Midwinter Vandalia. The city had six parks at this time and an eighteen-hole golf course. By the 1920s, Eustis became a boating center, and the first municipal pier and boat houses were built on Lake Eustis in 1926. In 1929, Eustis had seven churches and over forty social organizations. By the 1930s, therefore, the small village of Eustis was known as a cultural and recreational center for the region of Florida. 

Woman’s Clubs were formed in the United States in response to women’s desires for intellectual stimulation and out of an awareness of and willingness to meet community needs. Until 1889, such groups were strictly local organizations. The Sorosis Club celebrated its twenty-first anniversary in 1889 by convening a meeting of women’s groups from across the country. The result was the creation of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs.  

Florida’s first such club for women was organized in Green Cove Springs in 1887. The goal of its members, mostly winter residents of Eustis, was village improvement through the introduction of order and cleanliness, and the provision of a “social center for intelligent intercourse of women with one another”. The group was incorporated in April 1889 as the Ladies’ Improvement Association of Green Cove Springs, Florida. After solving the village’s immediate health problems, the club took up other objectives, such as literary pursuits, the creation of parks, and the digging of wells.  

On May 29, 1902, sixteen women met at the home of Mrs. Irene Vogt, wife of the newspaper owner, and joined together to form the Woman’s Club of Eustis. The club began as a discussion and study group, but it was not long before they turned their attention to worthwhile activities to improve the community. Like many of the Village Improvement Societies which were coming into vogue at the time, the Woman’s Club of Eustis organized the first clean-up day for the community in 1903.  

In 1912, because of petitions made by the Woman’s Club, the City Council of Eustis installed benches and placed water troughs throughout the downtown area for humans and animals alike. After studying proper sanitation practices, the women promoted a campaign against flies and mosquitos. By 1917, minds turned to the war effort, and the Woman’s Club of Eustis became affiliated with the Red Cross, making and supplying bandages. By 1920, the membership of the Woman’s Club of Eustis had grown to ninety-six, and meetings were moved to the Presbyterian Church. In 1921, a pageant was presented with a cast of two hundred and collected $800. Proceeds of their efforts were used for such projects as beautification of the bulkhead on lake Eustis and school playgrounds. $300 worth of proceeds were donated by the Woman’s Club to the local library. 

By the mid-1920s, the women saw the need to acquire a permanent space of their own. In 1925, a lot was purchased on the north shore of Lake Eustis. The lot was later traded for the present site. In 1930, a contract for a new building was made with prominent local architect, Alan MacDonough; the building was dedicated on November 10, 1931. Since its inception, the Woman’s Club of Eustis has played a most important role in the history and development of Eustis. 

Woman's Club of Eustis, National Register of Historic Places. Accessed December 22nd 2020. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/77842831.

Woman's Club, Eustis, Florida Government Website. Accessed January 22nd 2021. http://www.eustis.org/residents/city_rental_facilities/womens_club.php.