The Country Club in Bear Valley Photograph Album
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The Country Club in Bear Valley was established in 1890 by members of the Pacific Union Club in San Francisco who were seeking a bucolic spot with plenty of fish and game for their sporting activities. According to Jack Mason, Marin County was considered a prestigious area and a number of the Union Club members had permanent residences here, including Hall McAllister, W.S. Kittle and Albert Dibblee. The Bear Valley area of Point Reyes was a natural choice due to its abundant wildlife and proximity to Tomales Bay and its tributary streams. Thanks to member Alexander Hamilton who had married into the Shafter family, the club was able to acquire hunting leases. “The clubhouse, kennels and stable were built in short order a mile and a half up Bear Valley in the heathery swale the Seashore now uses as a picnic area…. The club could sleep 35 with bedrooms looking over a wide verandah onto lawn and flower beds…. There were three lakes to fish in – one stocked with bass, one with New Hampshire trout, one with land-locked salmon from Maine….Each member was limited to two bucks and 300 quail a season…. Ladies were allowed in the club for breakfast and lunch and on the preserve during the closed season…. The Country Club flourished through the early 1920s” but was devastated “after the Great Crash, which found its stock broker and banker members especially vulnerable. The clubhouse stood until the early 1950s, when Bear Valley owner Bruce Kelham had it torn down to get rid of squatters and rats.” (Mason, Jack, “Teddy & Co. in Bear Valley”, Point Reyes Historian, Fall 1976, pp.37-53). |
