Official Site of The State of New Jersey

The Shady Rest Country Club is the oldest African American owned and operated country club in the United States. It has added significance as the home course of the first American golf professional to play in a U.S. Open, John Matthew Shippen (1879-1968). The clubhouse, originally the Ephraim Tucker Farmhouse built in the 1740's, became the George Osborne tavern in 1882. In 1900, the Westfield Golf Club converted the farmland into a nine-hole golf course and the farmhouse into a clubhouse. After the Westfield Golf Club merged with a Club in Cranford to form the Echo Lake Country Club in 1921, a group of prominent black investors known as Progressive Realty Company, purchased the property and organized the Shady Rest Country Club. The Club became a center of African American society at the time hosting events that brought to Scotch Plains. The history and significance of the course and clubhouse is recognized by its National Historic Landmark listing.

The 2024 Trust grant will help fund the restoration of the historic interiors and exteriors at Shady Rest Golf & Country Club.