The Detroit Masonic fraternity built a beautiful and very large Country Club complex. It had 4 major buildings; a Club house on Lake St. Clair, a Golf club building, an outdoor dancing pavilion, and an athletic field grandstand. The club property was 200 acres with 300 feet of sandy beach on lake St. Clair and the property stretched back from the beach for one mile. The following story is from a book printed about the Club, which was dedicated May 11-12-13- 1923. The Board of Trustees list shows Brothers from 27 lodges from Wayne, Oakland , and Macomb counties. I am copying several pages so you may some idea of what the club was like. This property was lost during the depression for back taxes and the County has a nice park there now. The buildings have since burned down. The only thing left today, is the street leading to the property which is called. "Masonic". Below are a few pages from a booklet that was printed about the Country Club. The entire booklet has been put on a CD and is available for sale from the Detroit Masonic Temple Library and Museum. See Country Club CD to purchase it.

THE CLUBHOUSE ON THE LAKE

The visitor entering the clubhouse of the Detroit Masonic Country Club notices first of all the striking color harmony of the tiling and inlaid woodwork in the vestibule. Here he is greeted by the doorman, ushered to the nearby checkroom, and to the stairway which takes him to the main floor.

The stairway is built of solid stone. A dim light illuminates the soft tones of the walls, and the intricate patterns of the banister gratings. French doors lead from the stairwell into the main hall.

This broad hallway runs the entire length of the building. Toward the lake is the spacious Social Room -- the center of the club's social life. Furniture richly upholstered after the Spanish Renaissance period; thick rugs of rich design; tapestries and curtains draped about the windows which command an imposing view of Lake Ste. Clair -- all combine to create an impression of harmonious beauty.

It is in this light, airy room that the Ladies Card Parties are held; and on Saturday evenings, the Club dances take place.

On "dance nights", the orchestra plays near the green-tiled fountain with its beautiful statue of the boy and the dolphin. At the west end of the Social Room is a lounge and smoking room for the men; at the east end, a retiring room for the ladies.

Around the Social Room runs a broad balcony, screened in the summertime, glassed-in and heated in the winter -- an ideal spot to spend a comfortable afternoon or evening.

On the other side of the hallway is the main dining room --aptly named El Encanto, "the place of enchantment." During the Summer months, dinner-dances are given every weekday evening, the D.M.C.C. Orchestra playing for the diners from six to nine. A private dining room, which may be partitioned off for parties of any size, are on the east, and the kitchens, complete with sanitary and labor-saving devices of every kind adjoin the main dining room on the west. At the extreme east end of the hall is a soda fountain of black and white Carrara marble, where light refreshments are served.

On the second floor is the billiard room and card rooms for both ladies and men. Opening on the upper porch is the men's dormitory, with lockers and beds to accommodate a hundred. Adjoining is a smoking rooms, baths, and showers.

On this floor are the individual bedrooms, ladies retiring room, and a children's nursery --- the latter attractively decorated with Mother Goose characters on the walls and draperies.

In the basement two enormous locker rooms, with showers and rest rooms adjoining, have equipment comparable to the best gymnasiums in the country for the accommodations of bathers. Off the ladies locker room is a dressing room with 36-feet of mirrors and dressing tables, where a manicurist and hair dresser are in attendance. Off the men's locker room is a barber shop,operated for the benefit of the bathers and those staying at the Club.

Towels and linens are laundered in another section of the basement, where complete laundering equipment and an electric drying machine are installed. The heating equipment is oil-burning. All gas for cooking is made in the building. A vacuum cleaning system has connections in every room. In addition to the public telephones, a private exchange connects all parts of the Clubhouse, the Golfhouse, and the Athletic Grandstand. All water is sterilized.

In another part of the basement is the refrigerating machinery, capable of producing ten tons of ice daily. The ice cream used at the club is manufactured here.

From the observation tower, Mt. Clemens and many miles of the surrounding country may be seen on clear day. A commanding view of the beautiful Lake Ste. Clair is obtained from the porches.

FEW CLUBS OFFER MORE ACTIVITIES

The scope of the Detroit Masonic Club's activities is so far-reaching that it is difficult to enumerate the many privileges and advantages derived by the individual member. His Club is well removed from the noise and smoke of the city limits, over picturesque Lake Shore Drive.

His Clubhouse is conceded to be the finest of all Country Clubs in the Detroit district. He may enjoy the cooling lake breezes on it broad verandas; visit with his fellow-members in the restful atmosphere of it tastefully furnished rooms and lounges; partake of dinners famed throughout the city for their excellence. In the summer, dinner-dances are held every evening, and Saturday Night dancing parties all year 'round.

Few Country Clubs in the district are fortunate enough to be located on the water. Thousands of bathers can be accommodated in the Club's locker rooms; and the excellence of Ste. Claire's sandy beach leaves nothing to be desired. Boats and canoes are always available. Members who are fond of fishing occasionally bring in a fine string of lake trout; and an organization of bait casters within the club has attracted an enthusiastic membership.

Baseball, including "indoor-outdoor" baseball; tennis, track events; "barnyard golf;" trapshooting; in the Winter, skating, ice-boating , and hockey --practically every form of outdoor sport awaits the D.M.C.C. Member. Every comfort is provided for families bringing basket lunches to the picnic grounds; and the kiddies find amusement on the playgrounds.

In a social way the Club has much to offer its members. Aside from the Saturday night dancing parties, special dances are held three and four times a year to attract a large proportion of the membership. The annual Mid-winter Dancing Party is held in the city at one of the larger ballrooms.

Ladies' Card Parties are given weekly in the summer and monthly in Winter. "Bridge Breakfast" are especially popular. It is not unusual for the Club to serve a dozen parties at the Bridge Luncheons in a single day, and the same number of large dinner parties in the evening.

Holiday celebrations at the Club have been successful without exception. Over five thousand persons brought their picnic lunches to the Club grounds on the Fourth of July, 1923, and witnessed races, games, and evening fireworks arranged for them by the Entertainment Committee. Few clubs in the country have ever staged so attractive a program for such a large number of spectators.

In the first four years of it existence, the Detroit Masonic Country Club has succeeded admirably in its purpose; namely , to provide a maximum of recreation and entertainment for every member and his family.

THE GOLF CLUB AND COURSE RANK AMONG THE FINEST IN THE COUNTRY

There are few golf course in the Detroit District in better condition than that of the Detroit Masonic Country Club. The 18 holes lie in a beautiful hundred-acre tract midway between Gratiot Avenue and the Lake, stretching for three quarters of a mile along Masonic boulevard. In the center of the links, approached by a roadway lined with stately maples, stands the Golf Clubhouse, a few hundred feet from the boulevard.

A double-decked balcony runs on two sides of the house, which gives to spectators a close view of the first tee and the ninth green. From the upper balcony, a panoramic view of the entire golf course is obtained, with baseball diamonds, athletic field, the large clubhouse, and Lake Ste. Claire in the distance.

The golfer will find the 18 holes of unusual interest. The second hole is short, but a continuous succession of bunkers causes many a heartache. Should these be overcome, a pool lies immediately back of the green. Here a drink of cool sparkling water from a flowing well awaits.

On the eighth hole, one is greeted by a novelty in that the entire green is elevated four feet above the surrounding terrain and bunkered on all sides. Here the player must not only be able to handle his driver with expertness, but must also be unusually adept with a mashie, for the surface of the green is crossed by a slight undulation. This is one of the most difficult holes on the course.

The 13th hole is aptly numbered, as it sometimes mars an otherwise perfect afternoon's play. This hole is played from a platform raised 12 feet above the ground, which is located in a shady portion of the course. While the distance from the tee to green is not great, the intervening space is taken up by the most veritable rough. Close by, on the right, a high fence warns of out of bounds." In addition, this green is protected by a sand bunkers which stretches to shoot over the top, it is only by the most skillful handling of his irons that he able to save his score from utter disgrace.

Another interesting hole is No. 15, with its "dog-leg" turn through a grove of trees, with but a narrow passage-way for a long shot from the tee. This hole calls for accuracy, otherwise the player may find his ball caroming from one tree to another, and perhaps ending its flight close to and on the wrong side of a gigantic oak.

The 16th hole penalizes a poor tee shot immediately, as a small lake lies closely in front of the tee. Number 17 is a short pitch, requiring accuracy. Otherwise the second shot must be played from among the shrubs. Number 18 is 385 yards in length. So to make a creditable showing as he approaches the clubhouse, the player must get distance with his tee shot, following with a perfect pitch to the green.

At the Golf House, every convenience is provided. A parlor at either side of the wide entrance hall, a dining room with ample accommodations for several hundred people, spacious locker rooms for both men and women, and men's grill --all are devoted exclusively to the golfer and his interest.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE CLUB

The Clubhouse is supported upon a pile foundation, capped with concrete 18 inches above mean water level, above which the building is erected, including isolated structural steel columns supporting the intermediate floors and center of building.

The building is constructed with Denison's Interlocking Tile and Brick , and is to be plastered on the exterior. The floors are constructed of wood. All lathing is of metal lath.
The building is of plain and ornamental plaster.

The Clubhouse covers an area of 167' X 145' with a total of 18,729 square feet, of which 7,188 feet are devoted to porches and balconies commanding a view of the Lake.

The Social Room 47' X 80' will accommodate 150 couples. Including the Main and Private Dining Rooms, 402 people can be accommodated at one seating. The locker room, with over 2,000 lockers, have present accommodation of 634, divided for men and women. The bathing department has spacious shower baths, retiring and rest rooms, and is equipped with electric hair-dryers in rooms provide for hair-dressing and barber shop.

The water supply is taken from the lake by gravity to a settling cistern, and there pumped into a 6,000 gallon tank, which supplies not only the Main Club, but also the Golf House through a 6-inch line a mile long, for the Greens and Golf House, also supplying the Grand Stands and Pavilion. Distributed on this line are several fire hydrants. The water for drinking, after being filtered, is again run through an Ozone electrically purifying filter, which absolutely kills all bacteria, and is the same system used by the American Government in France, where the water was taken from polluted pools for drinking purposes.

Ice is also manufactured from this purified water, for which we have a refrigerating plant capable of producing ten tons of ice daily, besides cooling five large storage and food refrigerators, also drinking water.

With this system we can manufacture forty gallons of ice cream daily.

The club is equipped with its own gasoline gas manufacturing plant for cooking purposes, which also supplies the bakery. The latter has a capacity of 300 loaves of bread per day, besides pies and pastry.

The Building is equipped with a laundry for washing, extracting, drying and ironing, and is capable of handling the linen from the dining rooms and hotel departments, as well as 3,000 towels from the bathing department. All linen for the Golf House and Main Club passes through this equipment each day.

The heating of the building is by steam, and it is generated by oil burners taken from a 2,500 gallon tank. All hot water is heated from this system.The water pressure is approximately 75 pounds, reduced for domestic purposes, and is of a higher pressure than that of the City of Detroit, fed by means of two electric automatic pumps with 35 H.P. motors.

The sewage Disposal System consist of two large Kewanee Septic Tanks, and is pumped from the tanks far into the Lake by a pipe line from two large disposal pumps.

The ice water for the building is on a circulating system, which assures immediate ice-cold water purified at the drinking fountains, as well as at the Soda Fountain. The Soda Fountain is constructed of Cerrara glass and German silver, and is mechanically cooled and refrigerated.

The Fountain in the Social Room, and that of the Drive, is supplied by the water system of this building.

The building is equipped with motion picture wiring for entertaining, and for spots lights on the Porch Balcony, to be used in connection with the outdoor swimming pool for night swimming when constructed.

The Hotel Department consist of ten double rooms for members, families and guest, and a Dormitory with steel lockers eclusively for men, likewise the Ladies' Dormitory.

No hotel has a better equipment than that to be found in the kitchens of this club, which are complete in all respects. Five thousand dishes can be washed in the dishwashing machine, which is of conveyor type. There are three large hotel ranges and broiler--also a pastry room.

There are approximately 13 carloads of tile used in the construction of the exterior walls. There are over 3,000 lights of glass in the building, and 1,300 electric light bulbs. All electric wiring throughout the building is of conduit on light and power circuits, eliminating fire hazards.

The Club has three pool tables and two billiard tables.

The entire building is equipped with a fire sprinkling system. This is supplied from a 55,000 gallon tank, built on a pile and concrete foundation, and weighing over 570,000 pounds.

Grounds of the Masonic Country Club cover approximately 200 acre, stretching back from Lake Ste. Claire. This includes 300 feet of beautiful sandy beach.

Playgrounds for children, athletic field, picnic grounds, etc., cover a total of 80 acres.

The 18 hole golf course stretches for three-quarters of a mile along Masonic Boulevard. Ninety acres of Club property is devoted to golf alone.

OUTDOOR DANCING PAVILION

ATHLETIC GRANDSTAND SIDE VI