Riverside Club

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For 25 years or so, the Riverside Club was a popular
summertime fun spot for people of all ages.

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For 25 years or so, the Riverside Club was a popular
 summertime fun spot for people of all ages.

In September of 1953, Huntington businessman H.H. Rogers
and four associates announced plans to build a $200,000
swimming pool and recreation development
near Chesapeake, Ohio.

The Riverside Club, they said, would be built on a 10-acre tract
between the Ohio River and U.S. Route 52, half a mile west
of Chesapeake. Rogers identified the site as the former
 Brown farm, which he had owned for some time.

The 105-by-200-foot pool, he said, would be open
 only to club members and their guests, with an
initiation fee and annual dues.

Over the years, the Riverside Club would become a busy place,
offering a wide range of pool activities, ranging from swimming
lessons for youngsters 6 years old and under to professional
 instruction in diving and water ballet. Tennis, roller skating
and badminton were also popular activities.

Brown’s partners in opening the club were L.H. Drullinger
of Narrows, Virginia, P.E. Bettendorf and O.P. Stark
 of  Columbus, Ohio, and A.F. Fackler
of Indianapolis, Indiana.

In February of 1961, the club’s original owners sold it to the owners
 of the Glenbrier Club — Charles, Roy and William Price, sons of
Huntington contractor James Price. The new owners said
consolidating the ownership of their Glenbrier Club,
located on State Route 2 just east of Huntington, and
 the Riverside Club would “make Huntington a hub
 of recreation in the Tri-State.” Later, they purchased
21 acres of land adjacent to the Riverside Club
and used it to construct a nine-hole golf course.

The Riverside Club closed in the late 1970s.

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Note:  This Article and picture appeared in the Herald-Dispatch Newspaper on Aug. 18, 2020.

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