Pendennis Club facts for kids

The Pendennis Club is a special private club located in Louisville, Kentucky. It started in 1881, like the famous clubs in London, England. Many people see it as one of the best social clubs in Kentucky and even in the United States.

How the Club Started

The club's first home, around 1906

The Pendennis Club was created by Thomas Wilson Todd, Levi Bloom, John Smith Noyes, and William Whits Hite. They met with sixteen other people on June 28, 1881, to plan the club.

The first meetings happened above a grocery store. The club's first president, Maj. John Montgomery Wright, was chosen there. He was a veteran of the American Civil War and later worked for the United States Supreme Court.

Members decided to name the club after a character named Arthur Pendennis from a book by William Makepeace Thackeray. Arthur Pendennis was seen as a perfect club member. The club also chose his crest and a motto, nec tenui penna, which means "with unfailing wings."

The First Clubhouse (1883–1928)

The club quickly became popular, and many important people from Louisville joined. In 1883, the club bought its first permanent home. It was the house of William Burke Belknap, who founded a big hardware company.

The new clubhouse opened on August 1, 1883. On the same day, U.S. President Chester A. Arthur visited Louisville. That evening, President Arthur and some of his helpers, including Robert Todd Lincoln, had dinner at the Pendennis Club. Other U.S. Presidents who visited the club include Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson.

President Taft especially liked the club. A famous journalist, Arthur Krock, once said that the Pendennis Club had many "gentlemen," meaning civilized and well-mannered people.

A famous landscape architect named Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed New York City's Central Park, also visited the club in 1891. He met with Louisville leaders to plan the city's park system.

Henry Bain's Legacy

In 1884, Henry T. Bain started working at the club. He began as an "elevator boy" but soon became a very important staff member, like a head waiter. He was known for his dignity, perfect manners, and amazing memory for names. He knew many people in Louisville society.

Henry Bain retired in 1924 and passed away before the new clubhouse opened. But his legacy lives on through a special sauce he created at the club. It's called Henry Bain's Sauce, and it's great with meat. The club owns the recipe, and you can even buy the sauce in stores today!

The Famous Old Fashioned Drink

Many people believe the Old Fashioned Whisky Cocktail was created at the Pendennis Club. Some say the name "old fashioned" was used for simple drinks even before the club started. But the club has a strong tradition about how this specific drink came to be.

An early book from 1931 said that a bartender at the Pendennis Club invented the Old Fashioned. It also mentioned that a club member, Col. James E. Pepper, brought this drink to New York City. Club records show Col. Pepper became a member in 1893. Bartenders at the club have also shared stories confirming his role in introducing the drink in New York.

In 1895, a book called Modern American Drinks included a recipe for the "Old-Fashioned Whiskey Cocktail." This recipe was very similar to the one mentioned in the 1931 book. This shows that the Old Fashioned was a specific drink by then, which fits with Col. Pepper's travels.

We don't know for sure which bartender created it. Some possibilities include Jacques Straub, who later became the club's manager, or Tom Bullock, a Louisville native who became a head bartender at another club. Bullock's recipe for the Old Fashioned called for bourbon, which is a type of whiskey from Kentucky.

The Old Fashioned recipe used at the Pendennis Club today includes sugar, water, and a specific type of bitters. It also uses fine Bourbon whiskey, an orange slice, a cherry, and a lemon twist.

The Pendennis Club has also created other special drinks, like the Pendennis Toddy and the Pendennis Club Cocktail.

During a time called Prohibition, when certain drinks were not allowed, the club was raided in 1930. Many beverages were taken away.

The New Clubhouse

Pendennis Club
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The modern clubhouse in Downtown Louisville
Location	Louisville, Kentucky
Built	1928
Built by	Wortham Construction Company
Architect	Nevin, Wischmeyer and Morgan
Architectural style	Colonial Revival
NRHP reference No.	03001225
Added to NRHP	December 4, 2003

The Pendennis Club built its current clubhouse in 1927–1928. This beautiful building has a Georgian Revival style and is almost 80,000 square feet. It was designed by a Louisville firm called Nevin, Wischmeyer & Morgan.

The architect, Mr. Nevin, said the new $1 million building was designed to be "one of the finest club buildings in the country." It opened to members on December 11, 1928. The building still has many beautiful details, including two rooms with famous French wallpaper.

A photo of the club's amazing library was in New Yorker Magazine in 1948. The room, with its large tables, red leather chairs, and shelves of classic books, looks very similar even today.

The front of the clubhouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. Today, the club's billiard room, with its walnut panels and teak wood floor, is one of the few grand billiard rooms in the United States still used for its original purpose. The sport of Squash was first played in Louisville at the Pendennis Club in 1930.

Changes Over Time

The Pendennis Club has changed over the years. Even though one of the founding members was Jewish, the club did not accept another Jewish member until 1974. Some important club members even resigned because their Jewish friends were not allowed to join.

By 1991, the club still had not accepted any African-American members. A local civil rights activist named Louis Coleman Jr. protested this by eating lunch in front of the club.

He also filed complaints with the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights. The Supreme Court of Kentucky later ruled that while private clubs could choose their members, they might not be able to get tax benefits if they discriminated. This meant the club could be investigated to see if this rule applied to them.

Special Events at the Club

The Pendennis Club has hosted many important social events, like parties for young women making their debut in society.

Since at least 1941, the club has held boxing nights. A boxing ring is set up in the club's large ballroom. On February 19, 1960, a young boxer named Cassius Clay, who later became Muhammad Ali, participated in one of these events. He won his match. This was before he became a professional boxer and an Olympic champion. Many of the people who supported him early in his career were club members.

The club's ballroom was also used as a filming location for the 2010 Disney movie Secretariat.

Many club events happen around the time of the annual Kentucky Derby horse race. Celebrities and even royalty have been guests at the club for these events, especially at its popular Post Derby Party after the race.

See also

• List of American gentlemen's clubs