Forsgate Country Club - History

History

With quality living and fine food uppermost on Forster’s mind, he decided, despite the crash of 1929, to build an elegant country club and golf course. Forster, not one to spare expense on the quality he sought, hired noted architect Clifford Wendehack to design the magnificent colonial clubhouse. The quality of the golf course was equally important, so hehired the famed Charles “Steamshovel” Banks to build it. In the design, Banks reproduced many of the golf holes that were handpicked by John Forster from his European golfing tours. The Country Club was finished in 1931, but Forster did not live long to enjoy it, leavinghis dreams of building a church, a hospital and a school unfulfilled.

Forster’s daughter Edith and her husband, John Howard Abeel, took over managing the Farm and Club after Forster’s death. Although Abeel enjoyed playing golf more than heliked farming, he did encourage Edith to carry on her father’s plans. A 1931 a Daily Newsarticle remarked “Forsgate Farm food products are famous throughout this part of New Jersey because of its home-cooked and strictly fresh at all times.” It was this outstandingquality that helped the Farm carry on successfully through the Depression years.

Edith and her husband had to integrate the new, innovative technology that was developing in the 30s. When pasteurization and Vitamin D were first introduced to milk production, the Farm launched a major PR campaign to educate the public. A letter to the Farm management by a Forsgate salesperson highlights the changing attitudes in 1931: “Of course, Morristown is a raw milk city, but there were some inquiries for some pasteurized milk…” Forsgate Farms was ready to meet the public’s changing tastes.

In 1932, a pint of Forsgate’s delicious ice cream sold for 35 cents, & families throughout the state traveled to Monroe Township for a Saturday outing at the farm. In addition to the burgeoning milk business, the secret Danish ice cream recipe of Magnus Malgaard, never since duplicated, was gaining statewide fame. In 1932, a pint of Forsgate’s delicious ice cream sold for 35 cents, and the Farm was noted for making unique ice cream molds shaped like roses, carnations, liberty bells, pears, peaches, hearts, cupids and turkeys. As the Farm’s rustic appeal and agricultural strides gained recognition in the 1930s, so did contact with city folk. The Farm offered guided tours highlighted by visits to noted cedar stall cow barns, the maternity barn and ice cream plant, where visitors were treated to free ice cream. Families throughout the state traveled to Monroe Township for a Saturday outing at Forsgate Farm.