Ferndale Club
Leesburg, Camp County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1908, Leesburg physician and banker J.B. Florence and his friends dreamed up a hunting and fishing retreat, buying land along Lilly Creek and damming Flat Ford to create Ferndale Lake. Chartered in 1909 and drawing members from nearby Pittsburg, the club built a clubhouse in 1912 for guests and social gatherings. More than a century on, it still operates with professionally managed wildlife habitat and fish stocking.
Why it matters
Sportsmen's clubs like Ferndale reflect the early-twentieth-century rise of organized leisure and the first stirrings of conservation-minded land and wildlife management.
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Related people
- · J.B. Florence
Themes & tags
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