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THE MYOPIA CLUB AT HAMILTON, MASS. 
By Mary H. 
HE last thirty years have witnessed 
a remarkable growth of sentiment 
in favor of outdoor sports in this 
country, and the result has been the 
development of the country club, 
with its wholesome facilities for 
life in the open. All along the 
beautiful North Shore of Massachu- 
setts Bay the popularity of this idea 
is evident, and the summer residents of this exclusive 
section have taken up with enthusiasm the country club 
plan. 
One of the best known of these clubs is the Myopia 
at Hamilton, Mass. The elub was organized in Win- 
chester in 1879, and at first the main interest was in 
korse racing and steeple chasing. Rases were held on 
“4 
THE HOUND HOUSE 
“he Clyde Park Course in Brookline, and in the old 
Beacon Park at Brighton. There was much opposition 
at first to the idea of racing, it being feared that Boston 
people would not patronize the sport, but the true 
Myopia spirit prevailed, and in the spring of 1882 a 
steeple chase meet was advertised to be held at Beacon 
Park, and a long streamer with the device Myopia 
waved defiance to Boston’s Puritanical prejudices. This 
first race drew an attendance of eight hundred, quite in 
contrast to the thousands that now seek admittance to 
a Myopia event. 
Northend.. 
In 1881, hunting was taken up, and later the name 
of the organization was changed from Myopia Club to 
Myopia Hunt Club. The first hunts were held in Win- 
chester, but this territory proved unsatisfactory, and 
tlhe fox hounds were tried out at Ipswich and Hamilton. 
he latter place answered requirements, and here the 
club established its home. 
The honor of the first game of polo to be played 
rear Boston, after the introduction of this sport in 
America, belongs to the Myopia Hunt Club, which in 
1888 turned a rough pasture into polo grounds. During 
the first season the ground was not in good condition; 
but the contests proved sufficiently exciting to show 
that the new sport was destined to be popular. . The polo 
erounds at Myopia are now among the finest in the 
country, and the club has developed famous polo teams. 
As is the case with most successful organizations, 
the Myopia has greatly enlarged the scope of its early 
interests, and it now offers facilities for all the favorite 
outdoor sports, with well laid golf links, fine tennis 
courts, bowling greens, ete. 
The club house was originally the old Dodge farm- 
house, built in 1772. In the diary of Manassah Cutler, 
“un early resident, is noted the fact that he attended the 
raising of the frame of Robert Dodge’s house in April 
of the year above mentioned, and also the house-warm- 
ing in the following January. Descendants of Dodge 
‘ived in this old dwelling until 1851, when the estate 
THE BARN 
was sold to Mr. Gibney, a Salem merchant. In 1882, 
riembers of the Myopia Hunt Club hired rooms here, 
end in 1891, they purchased the farm and dwelling. 
The following year the ladies annex was built next to 
the club house, and about three years ago the ladies 
bridge room was added. In 1897, the 18-hole golf 
course was laid out, and the following year the caddy 
house was erected. In 1900, the kennels were added to 
ile grounds, and in 1901, forty acres of land bordering 
on the town of Hamilton were purchased, as well as 
fifty acres of the Abbott estate on Myopia Till. One 
cf the features of the elub is the court tennis building, 
finished a few years ago.. The court, of patent cement, 
is considered one of the fastest in the country 
The present club house is most attractive. Broad 
verandas are features of the exterior, and the interior 
is replete in very detail. On the entrance floor is a large 
billiard room, the gift of Dr. Charles T. Parker, and 
adjoining this apartment is the bridge room, given in 
memory of T. Watson Merrill, a former prominent mem- 
ber.. The ladies dining-room is finished in green and 
white, with dainty chintz window handings, and adorn- 
ing the wall are several fine pictures, among them ‘‘The 
Pate 
