The Ledges Area History
Indian traders erected cabins in the grove near the mouth of Kinnikinnick Creek prior to the arrival of the first permanent settlers in Roscoe Township. A Pottawatomi Indian guide who had been hired in Milwaukee brought Robert J. Cross and Colonel Von Hovenberg to this same grove on August 3, 1835.
The remains of the traders' cabins and the wagon tracks made by the army that had pursued Black Hawk were still visible. The maples in the grove showed evidence of having been tapped by the Indians. Cross, who was originally from Coldwater, Michigan, purchased a claim to the land containing the grove from an employee of Stephen Mack named Lavec.
By 1837 Henry Abell and his son were operating a saw mill on the north branch of the creek and they eventually laid out a village which they named after the English historian Roscoe.
Kinnikinnick Creek which passes through much of Roscoe Township, including the Ledges Golf Course, takes its name from an Indian word for tobacco, kin-ni-kin-nick, which was smoked by Midwestern tribes. This substance was described as a mixture of tobacco, sumac leaves, and the inner bark of a species of dogwood (cornus obliqua RAF). The contents varied between different tribes and localities and the name was often applied by whites to the various components used in the mixture.
Ledges Property
The area surrounding the present day golf course takes the name "Ledges" from its layered outcroppings of St. Peter Sandstone. Local folklore states that wolves reared their cubs in what is known as the Wolf Den Cave, located near the number 13 green of the golf course. An old oak, known as "Barter Oak," was supposedly the site of negotiations between the Indians and white traders.
The Ledges was popular for picnicking and outings beginning in the 1850's. In the early part of 20th century the property belonging to John Porter was heavily used by weekend picnickers in their horse and buggies and Model T's. John Porter gladly allowed people to travel across his property to the popular ledges and wolf's den area. Surveryors discovered that the drive going to the old farm and stables was on John and Dora Porter's land. They signed an agreement and deeded the land for the road free of charge.
Hjalmer Anderson bought this property on behalf of Security Builders in 1929. He and his brother planted hundreds of trees, built the dam on the creek, and named their property The Security Outing Place. Plans to fully develop the recreation potential of the area never materialized and the Andersons sold the property to Mr. Swanson of Elco Tool in 1940. In 1943 he in turn sold it to Ed Green, who renamed it the Evergreen Farm.
Alfred G. Bowen obtained the 330 acre Evergreen Farm in 1949. Bowen had been a salesman for Gardner Machine and recently started a successful venture based on his invention of a new grinding machine. In 1953 he bought an additional 100 acres from George Atwood and the first subdivision into lots was made along Love Road by Bowen Projects Inc. in 1954. The first residents were the Paul and Janet Vogt, followed in 1955 by the Gunderson's and Eichman's.
Love Road was named by Janet Vogt's great grandparents, George and Stella Love who owned a vegetable farm on Love Road. Love and McCurry roads were gravel and mud in early 1954. Love Road ended at McCurry, but people would take a short cut to the north to reach the Dwyer farm near Rockton Road.
In 1957 seventy more acres were obtained from Dr. Crockett and the lots on Kinnikinnick Drive were surveyed, with the Mason's and Baucom's occupying their homes by the end of that year. By 1961 an additional 110 acres had been added and other developments were initiated to the west and southwest of the original Bowen Property.
Golf Course and Country Club
According to records found recently by Dennis Burke, who lives in one of the Ledges' most historic homes, there was an earlier 9-hole golf course built within the Evergreen Farm land when it was owned by Hjalmer Anderson sometime after 1929. In 1939, Hjalmer and his brother decided that it was impractical to maintain the golf course for the relatively small use to which it was put, so a complete set of farm buildings was built and the land was reclaimed for farming.
Plans for the development of today's golf course were first formulated by Al Bowen, Ray Nihan and Dean Lind in 1962. In March of that year an application was filed in Springfield for the chartering of the Ledges Country Club as a non-profit organization. In 1963 Al Bowen platted a 165 acre tract in his subdivision into six lots, five of which he donated to the Ledges Country Club.
Work began on the construction of the course later that year using a design prepared by Golf Course Architect Edward Lawrence Packard of LaGrange, Illinois. Total cost for the project was estimated at $281,200.
The course was officially opened for play on June 15, 1965. A minimal number of the virgin oaks and other trees were removed for the construction as only one fairway had to be carved out of a heavily wooded area. The dam, which Hjalmer Anderson had constructed years before, formed two ponds which provided an unusual number of holes with water hazards. Each hole had three tee locations which allowed variations for women's and tournament play. For normal play the Ledges is a 6740 yard par 72 course.
The Ledges Country Club was not open to the general public. Charter members comprised those individuals who purchased one of the 100 lots on the land donated to the club by Bowen. Sustaining members paid initiation fees and membership dues. Total number of charter and sustaining members was restricted to 300 persons. A temporary clubhouse was opened on the east side of the course in November 1967. The present clubhouse was constructed in 1974.
The lot that Al Bowen had retained when he made his original donation to the country club was later sold to the club for the purpose of constructing luxury condominiums. Failure to obtain zoning for this construction resulted in a considerable financial setback for the Ledges Country Club, and as a result it was eventually unable to meet its financial obligations.
The Beloit State Bank, which held the mortgage on the course, obtained the assets of the club at a sheriff's sale in April 1977. the South Beloit City Council was unable to obtain a federal grant to purchase the property and South Beloit officials hoped that the Forest Preserve District would eventually decide to acquire it.
After considerable debate, the Winnebago County Forest Preserve Commission concluded that the price for the course was compatible with the expenditure made for the Atwood Golf Course, that the Ledges course would alleviate the overcrowding on weekends at Macktown and Atwood, and that purchase of the Ledges by the District would maintain the area for open space recreational use and prevent its being lost to commercial development.
Money for the Ledges purchase was derived from funds obtained from the corporate levy. Final details of the sale were agreed to on September 15, 1977. The total purchase price for the Ledges, including the clubhouse, was 4,436,000.
At the time of its purchase, the Ledges Golf Course required considerable restoration and maintenance work by the Forest Preserve District. The dam on Kinnikinnick Creek had washed out in 1973 and the water had damaged the original beauty of the greens and fairways. The condition of the course had also declined during the period of receivership.
In 1978 the Forest Preserve District remodeled the entrance and access to the clubhouse to facilitate public use. final legal rights to green number 11 were also obtained. Marty Hogan succeeded Sam Manarchy as Ledges concessionaire in 1979.
© 2010, Ledges Property Owners Association