Highland Lakes Country Club history

1941 Robroy Farquhar opened “The Old Mill Playhouse” in the mill, starring actresses “Kim Hunter” and “Joanne Woodward.” (Later moved and became the Flat Rock Playhouse.)

1946 Start of the “Little League” softball program.

His son, Major C.D. Woodward, then continued as owner and director of Camp Highland Lake until 1947.

1949 Major expansion of Highland Lakes is underway.

1950 The formally established swimming program schedules new swim races and provides first fixed-in-place swim lanes and floating docks.

1951 The first Highland Lakes Post Office is established in a little cabin near Beach 1.

1958 The new Clubhouse is built and presented to the HLCC membership by John Seckler & Clayton Shepperd.

1959 S. Clayton Shepperd dies.

1961 Highland Lakes Inc. starts to build Lake #5, Upper West Highland Lake.

1963 Beginning of the Highland Lakes Fire Department.

1964 Club is recognized as a non-profit corporation.

1967 Club purchases the five lakes and the lagoon from Seckler & Shepperd for about $130,000.

1970 Trend begins for conversions from seasonal to year-round homes.

1974 A twelfth geographic section of Highland Lakes is created and a twelfth Section Trustee is added to the Voting Board.

1977 Highland Lakes, Inc. and Seckler & Shepperd Inc. merge and become Seckler & Shepperd, Inc.

1985 Highland Lake Inn and Conference Center, operated by the Lindsey family.

1988 Engineering investigations begin of the Club’s five man-made dams.

1989 Removal of private docks from Club property is begun.

1990 New boat racks and boat access areas created at Clubhouse Park.

1993 Membership adopts By-Law changes permitting the Voting Board, without membership approval, to acquire vacant land, to borrow money and to have liens placed on Club property, both with certain restrictions.

1994 Club prevails in litigation that challenged the Club’s requirements that developers — not the membership — pay for improvement of “paper” and “unimproved” roads.

1996 To control goose population, Club begins spring egg addling.

1997 Members vote to acquire 90 acres and the Post Office site at Beach 1 from Seckler and Shepperd.

Negotiations begin with United States Postal Service for sale of Club property for new Post Office, approved by membership at the August, 1998 Annual Meeting.

Postal Service revises its plans for new Post Office, requiring members to approve sale of additional land, approved at the August, 1999 Annual Meeting.

2000 Boat Livery Program created.

2001 Main Lake dam reconstruction completed with a low-interest loan of $588,060 from the State of New Jersey.

2002 New Post Office opens on land sold by the Club.

2004 Work begins on the rehabilitation of the former post office building and the Beach 1 recreation site; Non-profit youth groups are authorized to rent the Clubhouse on a trial basis; Liaison Committee is formed to maintain communications with Vernon Township officials.

2005 The renovated Beach 1 park and recreation site opens June.

2007 Club hosts Candidate’s Debate for Vernon Town Council seats moderated by the League of Women Voters.

Permission was granted to Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company to survey Highland Lakes as part of its environmental assessment of its Line 300 project adjacent to Highland Lakes, scheduled to start in the fall of 2010.

The 75th Anniversary Committee was formed with the enthusiastic assistance of many volunteers to plan and organize the Club’s anniversary in 2011.