History of Monadnock Rod & Gun Club

(several passages taken from a manuscript written circa 1972)

The Monadnock Rod & Gun Club, Inc., was founded in January 1947, with about a dozen charter members, but as the original charter has been lost through the years, their exact number and names are not presently available.  The club has a dual purpose, social and sports.  The first meeting was held on January 20, that year, at which Rufus S. Fenerty, III, William Smith, and Dana Perry, Jr., were named a committee to draw up the By laws for presentation at the first regular meeting, January 30, 1947.  At the latter meeting the By-Laws were approved and accepted and the club's first officers were elected.

With the newly formed club thus organized there ensued no lack of interest and by the February 15, 1947 meeting the total paid members had reached 192, with two honorary members and three minors.  The membership in the club has been open to women as well from the very start.  The rapid and spontaneous growth of the club was probably due to a combination of post-War enthusiasm combined with explosive economic opportunity afforded by GI loans, the new familiarity for some with firearms, and of course the beautiful settting of the Club with the stream running through it.  From its very beginning the club main interest has centered about the improvement of fish and game conditions, and working in close affiliation with Conservation Officers in the area.  Fish, especially bass and trout, have been stocked in various streams and ponds, pheasant chicks have been released from time to time, always with the assistance of those in higher authority, State and Federal.

By the time the club had been in existence for three months, a movement was started to locate a suitable site and in June, 1947, a member was named to investigate the procurement of a suitable piece of land.  That month the members started a building fund under the immediate direction of a nine-man committee.  Donations from all local businessmen were solicited, and for many years the club added monies as its finances permitted.  Turkey raffles and other features were held as fund-raising activities. In the meantime, through the good will of a local landowner, the land on which the Club currently sits, was used as a firearms and cannon range, archery practice area, and stream fishing was done throughout. In January 1948, a member was named chairman of the Building Fund Committee.  Offers of land sites were received from D.D. Bean and local townspeople.

In addition to the club's immediate interests, social and sports, it developed an early an interest in providing activities for the children of the town.  One of the earliest of these was the sending of a Jaffrey boy and girl to the Conservation Camp.  After the opening of the trout season  the club held a fishing derby for the children at their privately stocked pond at their recreation area.  Other events for children sponsored by the club included trips to ball games, etc.

The club was incorporated under the laws of the State of New Hampshire in 1949, and two years later it started holding its meetings at the Monadnock Rod & Gun Club building at 22 Peterborough Street.  This is the social club that was privately operated by a local citizen.

In 1963 the Monadnock Rod & Gun Club formalized the Club's location by purchasing the thirty-five acres of land that it had been operating from.  This tract of land is located just over the line from Jaffrey into Peterborough and has been and continues to be developed extensively through the hard work of club members. An additional parcel of property some 30 acres plus was added in the fall of 2015.  A trout pond was built and is surrounded by a grassy picnic area. There is a firearms and trap shooting range, horseshoe pits, trails for conducting field dog trials, a 30 plus target 3D archery course where hundreds of competitions have been held throughout the years, a cannon and mortar range upon which the annual New Hampshire Championship Cannon shoot was held, and in 1971 a kitchen and a men's restroom and women's restroom were added along with a 40-foot flag pole and 70 foot by 30 foot open-sided grand pavilion with fire pit which added distinction to the recreation area.