Ferndale Club

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight with a little color on the side. Now, somewhere in Camp County, there's a place called the Ferndale Club, and the story of how it came to be starts with one man's vision. That man was J.B.

Florence, a physician and banker out of Leesburg. Doctor, banker, and apparently a man who knew how to spend a weekend, because in 1908, Florence and a circle of friends started planning something special. A hunting and fishing club.

The kind of place where serious business gets set aside and serious recreation takes over. They drew their membership from Pittsburg, bought up land along Lilly Creek, and then, because these men were not thinking small, they built a dam at Flat Ford. That dam didn't just sit there looking useful.

It created Ferndale Lake. The club itself got its charter in July of 1909, and it went by a name back then that tells you everything you need to know about the priorities of its founding members: Fern, Fin and Feathers. You've got your scenery, you've got your fish, and you've got your ducks, all in one tidy title.

The duck hunting and fishing drew folks in, the membership grew, and by 1912, the club built itself a proper clubhouse to handle guests and social functions. And here's the part that might surprise you a little: the Ferndale Club is still going. Still out there along Lilly Creek, still running wildlife habitat programs and stocking the fish, still carrying forward what J.B.

Florence and his friends dreamed up back in 1908. Some visions just hold.

What the marker says

It was the vision of Leesburg physician and banker J.B. Florence that led to creation of the Ferndale Club, once called Fern, Fin and Feathers. In 1908, Florence and friends planned a hunting and fishing club. Drawing members from Pittsburg, the men bought land along Lilly Creek and built a dam at Flat Ford, creating Ferndale Lake. The popular fishing and duck hunting club, chartered in July 1909, expanded its membership and, in 1912, built a clubhouse to accommodate guests and social functions. The club continues today, utilizing professionally managed wildlife habitat and fish stocking programs. (2003)