What is the derivation of the term Country Club?

Have you ever wondered about the derivation of the term “Country Club”? At a meeting last evening, our General Manager, John Welch, talked about the importance of a Country Club to the community of Roseville. He went on to explain that Country Clubs typically originally were planned outside the environs of east coast cities, as a way for Club members to escape the stress and congestion of the big city and get out into the countryside. Interestingly enough, when Sierra View Country Club was formed in the 1950s, the land absolutely was on the fringe of the city. Alta Vista Avenue, our entrance street, was then the northernmost street in Old Roseville. Sierra View was truly a club in the country!

Country Clubs first began in Scotland a very long time ago. The first Country Club in the United States was built in the late 1700s. According to the United States Golf Association, the first Country Club in the United States was the Country Club of Charleston (South Carolina), established in 1786 and still going strong.

Wikipedia makes an interesting statement in their online post describing what a Country Club is. This free encyclopedia makes mention of the impact that Country Clubs have had on the suburbanization of cities, and that Country Clubs are considered to be the precursors to the concept of gated communities. If you look at the growth of Roseville, you’ll see that it expanded way beyond the boundaries of Sierra View, way beyond the center of Old Downtown Roseville, and gated communities were built within a mile of our front entrance.