Forsgate Country Club
Encyclopedia
Forsgate Country Club is a country club
located in Monroe Township
, New Jersey
, and has been a local landmark for many years. The club boasts two distinctively different eighteen hole golf courses,a historic clubhouse with two dining facilities, tennis court, a pool and fitness center. The club is private for golf and dining, but is available to non-members for meetings, catering, and golf outings.
Here he decided to build a town, experiment with different types of agricultures and provide entertainment for his friends and relatives. While construction was in progress on the Farm, Forster and his wife and their daughter Edith would commute from Hackensack on weekends for site inspections. Since there were no facilities for meals or accommodations, the chauffer-driven Packard would head down the road to the Railroad House at Prospect Plains.
When the Farm was complete, Forster dubbed it Forsgate, honoring his wife’s family name of Gatenby. His horse-breeding, dairy farm, chicken farm, greenhouse and apple orchards started the tradition of fine quality food that continues at Forsgate more than 80 years later.
Forster’s daughter Edith and her husband, John Howard Abeel, took over managing the Farm and Club after Forster’s death. Although Abeel enjoyed playing golf more than heliked farming, he did encourage Edith to carry on her father’s plans. A 1931 a Daily Newsarticle remarked “Forsgate Farm food products are famous throughout this part of New Jersey because of its home-cooked and strictly fresh at all times.” It was this outstandingquality that helped the Farm carry on successfully through the Depression years.
Edith and her husband had to integrate the new, innovative technology that was developing in the 30s. When pasteurization and Vitamin D were first introduced to milk production, the Farm launched a major PR campaign to educate the public. A letter to the Farm management by a Forsgate salesperson highlights the changing attitudes in 1931: “Of course, Morristown is a raw milk city, but there were some inquiries for some pasteurized milk…” Forsgate Farms was ready to meet the public’s changing tastes.
In 1932, a pint of Forsgate’s delicious ice cream sold for 35 cents, & families throughout the state traveled to Monroe Township for a Saturday outing at the farm. In addition to the burgeoning milk business, the secret Danish ice cream recipe of Magnus Malgaard, never since duplicated, was gaining statewide fame. In 1932, a pint of Forsgate’s delicious ice cream sold for 35 cents, and the Farm was noted for making unique ice cream molds shaped like roses, carnations, liberty bells, pears, peaches, hearts, cupids and turkeys. As the Farm’s rustic appeal and agricultural strides gained recognition in the 1930s, so did contact with city folk. The Farm offered guided tours highlighted by visits to noted cedar stall cow barns, the maternity barn and ice cream plant, where visitors were treated to free ice cream. Families throughout the state traveled to Monroe Township for a Saturday outing at Forsgate Farm.
Forsgate received its liquor license in 1933, making the still private country club an exclusive resort for New York and Philadelphia business friends of the family. Agricultural productivity was dramatically increased by the combine machine, which when first introduced made headline news by being able to cut and thresh wheat and bind it into 60 bundles an hour, all in one operation.
Golf memberships cost the Club’s exclusive clientele only $25.00 in 1955 – a small price for the pleasure of golfing on the famous Charles Banks’ course.
By 1939, right before the outbreak of World War II, the Farm’s success was evident by the fleet of milk trucks covering 12 retail and wholesale routes, and the 28 routes covered by independent distributors. As Forsgate’s future was brightening, the world’s political situation was darkening. World War II had started and Americans were preoccupied with the country’s involvement in the war. Meanwhile, the future of the Farm was about to move into the capable hands of John Forster Abeel, who had his own ideas about how to expand on his grandfather’s original vision.
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
located in Monroe Township
Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey
Monroe Township is a Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 27,999. Monroe was incorporated as a township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 9, 1838, from portions of South Amboy Township, based on the...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and has been a local landmark for many years. The club boasts two distinctively different eighteen hole golf courses,a historic clubhouse with two dining facilities, tennis court, a pool and fitness center. The club is private for golf and dining, but is available to non-members for meetings, catering, and golf outings.
John Forster
In 1896, John Forster, a penniless Scottish immigrant, founded the insurance company of Crum and Forster. As his wealth grew, so did his longing to build a self-sufficient community for his employees, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. In 1913, he eyed 50 acres (202,343 m²) of land in Monroe Township, west of the original 1831 Camden-Amboy railroad.Here he decided to build a town, experiment with different types of agricultures and provide entertainment for his friends and relatives. While construction was in progress on the Farm, Forster and his wife and their daughter Edith would commute from Hackensack on weekends for site inspections. Since there were no facilities for meals or accommodations, the chauffer-driven Packard would head down the road to the Railroad House at Prospect Plains.
When the Farm was complete, Forster dubbed it Forsgate, honoring his wife’s family name of Gatenby. His horse-breeding, dairy farm, chicken farm, greenhouse and apple orchards started the tradition of fine quality food that continues at Forsgate more than 80 years later.
History
With quality living and fine food uppermost on Forster’s mind, he decided, despite the crash of 1929, to build an elegant country club and golf course. Forster, not one to spare expense on the quality he sought, hired noted architect Clifford Wendehack to design the magnificent colonial clubhouse. The quality of the golf course was equally important, so hehired the famed Charles “Steamshovel” Banks to build it. In the design, Banks reproduced many of the golf holes that were handpicked by John Forster from his European golfing tours. The Country Club was finished in 1931, but Forster did not live long to enjoy it, leavinghis dreams of building a church, a hospital and a school unfulfilled.Forster’s daughter Edith and her husband, John Howard Abeel, took over managing the Farm and Club after Forster’s death. Although Abeel enjoyed playing golf more than heliked farming, he did encourage Edith to carry on her father’s plans. A 1931 a Daily Newsarticle remarked “Forsgate Farm food products are famous throughout this part of New Jersey because of its home-cooked and strictly fresh at all times.” It was this outstandingquality that helped the Farm carry on successfully through the Depression years.
Edith and her husband had to integrate the new, innovative technology that was developing in the 30s. When pasteurization and Vitamin D were first introduced to milk production, the Farm launched a major PR campaign to educate the public. A letter to the Farm management by a Forsgate salesperson highlights the changing attitudes in 1931: “Of course, Morristown is a raw milk city, but there were some inquiries for some pasteurized milk…” Forsgate Farms was ready to meet the public’s changing tastes.
In 1932, a pint of Forsgate’s delicious ice cream sold for 35 cents, & families throughout the state traveled to Monroe Township for a Saturday outing at the farm. In addition to the burgeoning milk business, the secret Danish ice cream recipe of Magnus Malgaard, never since duplicated, was gaining statewide fame. In 1932, a pint of Forsgate’s delicious ice cream sold for 35 cents, and the Farm was noted for making unique ice cream molds shaped like roses, carnations, liberty bells, pears, peaches, hearts, cupids and turkeys. As the Farm’s rustic appeal and agricultural strides gained recognition in the 1930s, so did contact with city folk. The Farm offered guided tours highlighted by visits to noted cedar stall cow barns, the maternity barn and ice cream plant, where visitors were treated to free ice cream. Families throughout the state traveled to Monroe Township for a Saturday outing at Forsgate Farm.
Forsgate Ice Cream Menu in 1932
A quart in bulk was $1.00 and for pre-packed it was .75 cents; A pint was .50 cents in bulk and .35 cents for pre-packed; A pint was .30 cents and .25 cents for pre-packed; Single Cone was .10 cents; Double Cone was only .20 cents; Popsicles were .10 cents; Dixie Cups also sold for .10 cents; Sandwiches were only .12 cents; A Gallon sold for $1.40; Sugar Cones for sale for .11 cents.Forsgate received its liquor license in 1933, making the still private country club an exclusive resort for New York and Philadelphia business friends of the family. Agricultural productivity was dramatically increased by the combine machine, which when first introduced made headline news by being able to cut and thresh wheat and bind it into 60 bundles an hour, all in one operation.
Golf memberships cost the Club’s exclusive clientele only $25.00 in 1955 – a small price for the pleasure of golfing on the famous Charles Banks’ course.
By 1939, right before the outbreak of World War II, the Farm’s success was evident by the fleet of milk trucks covering 12 retail and wholesale routes, and the 28 routes covered by independent distributors. As Forsgate’s future was brightening, the world’s political situation was darkening. World War II had started and Americans were preoccupied with the country’s involvement in the war. Meanwhile, the future of the Farm was about to move into the capable hands of John Forster Abeel, who had his own ideas about how to expand on his grandfather’s original vision.