Mercer County PAGenWeb |
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Places Buhl Club, Sharon |
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The Buhl Club,
the gift of Frank H. Buhl
to the people of Sharon, occupies a unique place among the institutions
founded for purposes of social enlightenment and improvement. Of
libraries established through means furnished by individuals, America
has thousands of examples. The library, besides supplying the material
for intellectual diversion and culture, is often a center of the
esthetic and educational movements of the community. The church
organizations, whose objects are primarily religious, have social and
charitable functions that are constantly broadening to meet the
conditions of modern life. Another field of social and religious work
is occupied by the Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. organizations, which are
an extension of practical Christianity to the clean and wholesome
interests of the young, an effort to supply congenial and attractive
environment for the social pleasures and activities of young men and
women. Then, too, the “social settlement” is a feature in the larger
centers of population, representing an endeavor to raise the standards
and ideals of life among the ignorant and poor of a city’s population. The
Buhl Club, in the writer’s opinion, is a public philanthropy founded on
such broad lines that it comprehends many of the facilities and
purposes of all the above- named institutions. On the main floor of the
handsome brick and stone building, fronting on State street, is a
library with commodious reading and reference rooms at either side. The
library, viewed as a collection of books, is new and incomplete, but is
sufficiently large to accommodate the average book-borrower and in its
larger purpose of furnishing the proper incentives and surroundings for
the enjoyment of books its facilities are not surpassed in many public
libraries. Occupying
part of the basement and first floors of the club house are a large and
well equipped gymnasium, bowling alleys, courts for squash and hand
ball, billiard and pool room, card rooms, and the various means of
recreation and athletic sport. A physical trainer and examiner is also
provided. In these facilities the club has more to offer men who are
attracted to clean sports and amusements than the average Y. M. C. A.
outside of the largest cities. On the third floor are a large music room, assembly room and class rooms. The Buhl Club has undertaken the functions of the social settlement and night school of the large cities, adapted of course, to the needs of this community. By the provisions of the wise philanthropy which founded the institution, the annual fees required for membership are very low, less than the dues of the average Y. M. C. A., and practically nothing. Twentieth
Century History of Mercer County,
1909, Vol. I, page 105-107 |
The Buhl Club, 1930s
The Entrance to the Buhl Club, 1930s
The Buhl Club, 1920s
The Buhl Club, abt 1908
The Buhl Club, early 1900s
The Buhl Club, 2001
The Buhl Club sign, 2001 |
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