Golf, Gun & Country Club
a.k.a. Manning House
651 Johnson Ave., Fairhope, ALLacking the traditional agricultural or industrial sources of revenue, Fairhope depended heavily on vacationers from Mobile and the North. The town's beautiful natural setting, healthfulness and generally .slower pace appealed to harried people everywhere. Local officials aggressively promoted Fairhope's attractions through brochures and magazine articles and constantly sought new ways to enhance the resort environment. By the teens many felt that a good golf course would prove a great attraction. The Courier editorialized, "People would like to come to Fairhope for the winter provided there is a golf course here." Others agreed and in 1916 a 9 hole golf course was laid on Single-Tax land, south of Fairhope Avenue and east of Marshall's Gully. The course was designed by Walter Fovargue of Chicago and plans were also made for a clubhouse. Actual construction on the clubhouse did not begin until 1922. By this time Fairhope was doing well with a population of over 800, city owned water works, light and power plant, telephone, street railway line with one and a half miles of track, bath houses, wharf and public library with four thousand volumes. On New Year's night 1923 the "beautiful new club house" was dedicated.(Courier, 1/5/23) Besides serving as a headquarters for golfers, the new building was the scene of local dances and teas. During the late 1950s the golf course was drawn off into lots and soon covered with houses. The clubhouse was surrounded by apartments and houses and itself became a residential unit. The present owners renovated the building in 1985.
Local significance of the building:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.