Ridgemoor Country Club

Ridgemoor Country Club traces its origins to 1901, when seven men set out to organize what was then called the Irving Golf Club, during a period when golf was spreading rapidly across Chicago. The group grew to about 40 members, secured a 40-acre site along Addison Street and what is now Kedvale Avenue, and incorporated the club in 1902.

By 1904 the city's expansion had caught up with the club: the landowner intended to subdivide the property, forcing a move. With membership up to roughly 75 and a desire to stay close to home, the club leased 70 acres from the Smith heirs. The original Smith mansion, just off what is now Gunnison Street, served for a time as the clubhouse and later, after renovation, as the caddie house. The club's holdings stretched between Gunnison Street and Montrose Avenue, and west from present-day Narragansett Avenue, with an irregular western boundary. The sand-based ground suited golf well.