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Camp
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Covington House -
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Covington Plantation -
Golf Course
The Covington House,
Tallahassee, Florida
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THE COVINGTON HOUSE – VANCOUVER WA (1848)
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Location |
4201
Main Street, Vancouver, Washington |
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Coordinates |
45°39′09″N
122°39′59″WCoordinates: 45°39′09″N
122°39′59″W |
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Area |
less than one acre |
|
Built |
1846–1848 |
|
Architect |
Richard Covington |
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Architectural style |
log house |
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Added to US National Register of Historic Places |
5 May 1972
Ref 72001268 |
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The
Covington House historic cabin in Vancouver, Washington, was built by
Richard and Charlotte "Anna" Covington born, raised and married in
London, England who travelled by ship around Cape Horn/South
America, stopping at the Sandwich Islands/Hawaii and finally arriving at Fort
Vancouver in the Oregon Territory, where they had been hired to teach children
of the Hudson's Bay Company employees.
The first
three "plains" of the area were held by Hudson Bay Fur Trade Co.
whereas the fourth "plain" was opened up for public sale as property
north of the Columbia River became part of the United
States, the government gave newly acquired land to early pioneers, willing to
settle and farm the land. The Covingtons taught at the Fort immediately after
their arrival, 1846 until 11 April 1848 when they entered "donation land
claim" No. 43 640 acres (2.6 km2) in the Fourth Plain area, the
community now referred to as Orchards, WA, where they built their home, House
No. 16 and Boarding School, per the 1850 census. Although
they never had any of their own children, the couple established a boarding
school in addition to operating a large fruit farm, called the Kalsus Farm. The children slept in the cabin loft, as it
was an arduous seven – eight-mile trek, one way, north east of the Fort and
wrought with danger for small children to attempt to travel alone.
The
Covington's log cabin soon became known as the social center of hospitality
with musical entertainment in the early days of Vancouver on the Columbia
River. Besides his guitar, they also brought a violin and the first piano to
the Pacific Northwest as well, they also taught music to many of these local
children at that time. Richard Covington was extremely talented, in addition to
building their log cabin home, and developing an expansive orchard, he served in
several offices as a justice of the peace, county clerk,
school superintendent, cartographer, artist,
musician, vocalist, and briefly as a ranger during an
"Indian uprising" First Nations/Native Americans
The inscription on the
marker in front of the cabin: "Erected 1848 by Richard and Anne Charlotte
Covington on Fourth Plain. Boarding school was conducted herein in 1850. This
building housed first piano in the Oregon Country and was center of social
activity in entire region".
U.S. Army Captain (and
future President) Ulysses S. Grant was quartermaster at what was then known as
Columbia Barracks at Fort Vancouver, for 15 months beginning in September 1852
– 1853. During this time, he was known to ride 7–8 miles by horseback to visit
the Covington home, to enjoy some semblance of familial life.
Richard Covington was
elected Clark County school superintendent in 1862 and 1863. In 1867 he
received an appointment to work in the United States Patent Office, under the
administration of their friend and then President of the United States Ulysses S. Grant,
so they sold their farm, in January, to William C. Hazard for $2,100 and moved
to Washington, D.C. At the time of their departure, they gave their piano to a
friend who eventually gave it to Nan Maynard Rice years later. In 1967, Miss
Rice, in turn, gave the piano to a local historical society. The Covingtons
stayed in Washington, DC through President Grant's term in office, then
temporarily spent time in Victoria, British Columbia
until retiring to the Sandwich Islands until Richards death. It is believed
that Anna returned to England.
The
Covington House cabin, which is the oldest (domestic dwelling/home) privately built
structure, is also the oldest school building in addition to it being the oldest boarding school built in Clark County,
Washington. Circa 1925, it was "rediscovered" by local businessmen,
who came together to raise attention, and funds, needed to save and restore the
cabin. Which at that time not only was being used to house farm animals, but
was "in advanced stage of disrepair – barren and weathered, open windows
and doors, and unkempt shingles, dispiritedly in part of a weed-grown
lot". Circa 1926–28, the individually adze hewn logs of the cabin were
numbered and catalogued, disassembled, and relocated at its present site, 4201
Main Street, where it stands today. At that time that was the northwest corner
of Leverich Park, (in an area called Kiggins
Bowl due to the shape of the terrain), facing the old Pacific Highway, before being
separated from the Park by the development of the "new" freeway, I-5.
Several
modifications were added during this major restoration and relocation project,
including electricity, heat, lights, water and plumbing, wooden floor, a new
unique fireplace boasting large local river stones and single piece of local
timber for the new fireplace and mantle, new windows, a kitchen, two restrooms
and a fully restored roof with wooden rain gutters. The location was
distinctive as being on the old Pacific Highway, and facing the old
"Vancouver Column" adjacent to the oldest and now the newest (due to
removal, restoration and re-dedication of the) Blue Star Memorial Highway
Marker, in the state of Washington.
The
Covington House itself is currently owned and maintained by the city of
Vancouver on land owned by the local school district and managed by the
Vancouver Woman's Society affiliated with The General Federation of Woman's
Clubs. As the house had served as a home, a farm and a boarding school, and
quickly became a social hub. As it was in the beginning, and so it is now, the
cabin continues to provide a special place for special events as well as being
utilized by many local groups as a regular meeting place. Because the cabin is
a National Landmark, it is available to view by the public, by appointment.
For more information on the Covington House, visit their website or their Facebook page
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Covington Plantation Golf
Course (1997)
Ashton Hills Golf Club
10400 Covington By Pass RdCovington, GA 30014
Phone(s): (770) 385-0064
Fax: (770) 385-5311
Formerly Indian Creek Golf Club, Ashton Hills got a new name and
a new look in 2012 when it changed ownership. The design was originally crafted
in 1997 and it became popular almost immediately, earning the title of
"Atlanta's Best New Course" that year by Georgia Golf News. The
unique character of the first design was kept in tact
but golfers will find that the layout is now more player friendly with slightly
wider fairways, shorter rough, and less severely sloped greens. The bunkers
were reshaped and a few uphill holes were reconfigured to make the golf course
more walker friendly. The original was notorious for being a test for even the
most advanced players, but now golfers of all skill levels can enjoy it. That
is not to say though the Ashton Hills golf course lost its challenging nature,
golfers will still have plenty of water hazards and bunkers to contend with.
...Structurally the Best
Course I Have Ever Designed - By Desmond Muirhead,
Golf Course Architect.
The Olympic Games is the greatest show on earth. Every four years
I take three weeks off to be a spectator at this panorama of international
goodwill. I spend two years looking forward to them and two years looking back.
I have met some of my best friends at the Olympics.
For three weeks, most of the world's worries are forgotten. Even
at the height of the Cold War, Russian and American athletes talked freely together.
At the Olympics, everybody, spectators included, lowers their guard. Reserve
atrophies, personal privacy no longer seems an issue. This, one feels, is how
the world should be. They call it the Olympic spirit which reaches a zenith at
the Closing Ceremonies. The following day, up come the barriers again and
coolness and distance return. Alas, we learn so slowly.
I have travelled to many countries in order to be a part of the Olympics,
starting with Melbourne, Australia, in 1956. This year, they were in Atlanta,
Georgia, one of the friendliest cities on earth, where by a strange coincidence
I have a project, Covington Plantation. This planned development includes my
first American golf course since Stone Harbor, New
Jersey; the symbolic golf course which raised such a furor
(and still does) around the world (Executive Golfer, August 1988).
The Opening Ceremonies of the Games were terrific, much better
than they appeared on television. On the following day, I took I-20 Freeway
east to Covington, a thirty-five minute ride from the
center of Atlanta. To reach the site, you turn right off I-20 on exit 46 and
proceed for one and a half miles down Hazelbrand
Road. The project is centered in a new fast-growing
area of suburban Atlanta, where every month a large new business development,
employing several thousand people, seems to be announced. Covington itself is a
beautiful antebellum village saved like Savannah from Sherman's destructive
march during the Civil War.
Covington Plantation is a development with several hundred houses
surrounding a densely forested single fairway golf course which I have designed
with a length of seven thousand yards from the back tees. I have concluded recently
that anything less than this length is soon going to be questionable, because
of the new titanium clubs, which are making life difficult for us golf course
architects. Soon the powers that be will have to consider extending the length
limits of the various pars. Was ever a game so heavily controlled by the
manufacturers of equipment?
There is a confusion of clients on the project. Scott Myers, from
San Francisco, is the land developer who had retained us. He gave the land for
the golf course to Jim Haslam and Brooks Simmons who own several golf courses
in Georgia and Tennessee, and they will own and run this one. The original land
has been in the John Dearing family for several generations. After a fair
amount of cautious reconnoitring, we are now all getting along extremely well.
Some planning had been done before we got to the project, as often
happens these days, but for various reasons we changed it and no road or golf
hole is the same as originally planned. A good local planner, Gary Hoopes, helped
to put the final touches to the lots and secured the zoning.
As soon as the golf course changed hands, the budget was cut,
although I could hardly complain. I have often said that I was anxious to give
something back to the world of golf which has been so good to me. However, we
now have two million two hundred thousand dollars for the contract and one
million two hundred thousand dollars for the clubhouse, maintenance shed and
equipment, maintenance until opening, and our (much reduced) fees which are
being split between the golf course owners and the developer, since he gets a
great deal of benefit from the high quality golf course we intend to build. I
agreed to partial payment in land. All the land around our recent golf courses
has increased dramatically in value from the initial offering by as much as a
thousand percent in some instances. So, we were hardly taking any risks.
As was noted in the last article, the cost of the golf course
should not be a problem. As I said then, "The quality of play is actually
almost independent of the money spent. I could reproduce Muirfield in Scotland
or Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina for less than a million dollars plus the
irrigation. Given the scenery, Pebble Beach would not be an expensive course to
build, given the site, neither would Pine Valley.
"The rhythmic and sequential arrangement of tees, greens,
lakes, creeks, bunkers, is not dependent on money spent. The sense of luxury
from stone bulkheads, large-lined lakes, elaborate bridges, extensive steep fared
(and costly to maintain) ragged-edged bunkers, additional landscaping, full
coverage irrigation, expensive clubhouses might be. We already have large
trees.
"There are other things which don't cost anything. The
quality of the original site which is paramount. The rhythm of hard to easy
holes, wideness and narrowness of fairways, small and large greens and bunkers,
open and closed holes, right and left angled greens and doglegs, sequence of
water holes, short and long holes, arrangement of pars, and so on. There is
also an understructure, a holistic field, as well as
originality, memorability, imagination, myth, mystery and the educational
breadth of the designer."
I went on to say that, "I am affected by tradition and
convention, but not shackled by them. I am searching for some deep-seated power
of innovation in the human mind. I want my golf course holes to have meaning,
which is the biggest lack in most new golf courses. I believe Covington
Plantation to be structurally the best course I have ever designed regardless
of the money spent."
These were heady words halfway through the construction of a golf
course and to avoid regretting them later, I realized I would have to be around
for the finishing stages of this course. So, this visit to the Olympics has
been fortunate so far. It also occurred to me that Georgia golf courses are
park-type courses with tall trees and that even Bobby Jones could not wave his
magic hickory shaft and procure some links-like wind for the Augusta National.
He and his golf course architect, Alister Mackenzie freely admitted their
admiration for and debt to the Old Course at St. Andrews and its famous winds.
Run-up shots are difficult on watered fairways and alternatives are at best
hard to gauge. Nevertheless, I felt I had learned a thing or two designing golf
courses in the last few decades although there are those who would disagree
with this statement.
As we began to tour the course on that hot, damp July afternoon, I
started to have second thoughts about "structurally the best course I had
ever designed." Suddenly, I was grateful for the words
"structurally" and "designed." I was with Scott Myers, the
developer, his manager James Hughes, and later Scott Greenseth,
the construction superintendent from Niebur Golf who
were building the course.
We inspected every hole with the minute care so necessary if you
want to maintain the quality in a project. These days, you have to fight for
quality which is no longer as Aristotle said, "A habit rather than an
act." The customary two inches of summer rain had fallen on the weekend
and the fringes of the holes were a quagmire. As our wheels slipped on the
Georgia clay, my heart was in my boots. What a foolish statement I had made
before the course was finished—best course indeed—I thought. Nothing seemed to
be going right. The quality of the course clearly depends not only on the
designer, but on the quality of the course builder and the maintenance
superintendent after that. Had I not repeatedly said that I would rather play a
good course that was well maintained than a masterpiece in disarray?
Was this slippery mass of orange earth and tangled Bermuda stolon
destined to put joy and fear in acceptable proportions into the hearts of those
who played here? I doubted if it would and was thoughtless enough to says so
out loud to my companions. "Everybody else loves this course but
you," said Scott Myers with feeling. "What are we supposed to think
when all you do is to criticize?"
An air of melancholy accompanied us as we walked the 11th hole, a
formerly clean and trim par-4 that now looked absolutely terrible. This had
been the only hole where massive regrading had been necessary to make a
reasonable landing area out of a twenty-five percent slope, and we had had to
make it look as if we had found it there. There was considerable erosion
tearing into the new grades, the Bermuda stolons were
half green and half brown in ragged lumps and the fairway was riddled with
shallow streaks and taluses like giant worm casts. The hole which had looked
great in earth now looked extremely untidy. And that was about as kind as you
could get.
No. 12, the Sunburst Hole (see illustration) looked worse. The original
hole had seven depressions round a central green. Three of these were supposed
to contain water, but they had been taken out because of cost. The state of
this hole however was nobody's fault but my own. I had seen the original earth
work and had decided the shapers had made the bunkers too shallow—a tendency
that shapers have. They forgot there's still six to eight inches of sand to go
in on top of the finished earth and tend to leave the final grade of the
bunkers as if there were no sand. This is sometimes also to avert criticism
that the bunkers are too deep. I like bunkers where you can only see the knees
of the golfer. Anyway, the shapers had dutifully cut another eighteen inches
out of the bunkers which were now round instead of quadrilateral. The form of
the hole, which I felt was innovative, was now destroyed. It is always hard to
get contractors to change things after the sand is spread, with some
justification on their part, and I knew I would have to ask them to re-cut
these bunkers. As we continued our inspection, Nos. 13 and 14 only looked
average and you couldn't see the fairway bunkers on No. 14 which is a no-no.
Nobody should tolerate blind fairway bunkers even if the 12th at St. Andrews is
the exception which proves the rule.
My heart was now below the horizon as I analyzed
the impact of these three holes and fully realized the result of my premature
statement. But perhaps the name for No. 12 was prophetic. The slight drizzle
ceased, the clouds vanished and we were bathed in the blinding light you get to
expect in Georgia during the summer.
They drove me to No. 9 and you could see this fairway rocketing
through a sort of peephole through the trees. The sweep of the land was
magnificent—there was no erosion. My spirits rose markedly and I apologized to
my companions who had joined me in my gloom. From then on
the course slowly seemed to improve and I felt there was a good chance of
fulfilling my original opinion. We humans are such mercurial creatures so
easily influenced in our changing moods.
On each supervisory visit, you make some contribution to the
improvement of the course. Take the cart paths for instance. They are often
neglected. On this course, we had placed them among the trees where possible to
take advantage of their shade in this very hot climate and to get them out of
play. The subcontractor was in a hurry and the cart paths on these first two
holes were inaccurate, scrappy and badly finished. After my associate Ed Easley
made them tear half of them up and replace them, the quality improved greatly
for the rest of the cart path construction. There were many other improvements
involving shaping, soil amendments, wall construction, and irrigation. You have
to keep working at the details or the whole comes apart.
Since this is a traditional rather than a symbolic golf course, as
my clients had requested a classical approach, philosophy of this course
depends most definitely on its sequence and rhythm. On this great site, I have
attempted to create a balance between short, easier par-5s, and long, hard
par-4s. The par-5s are the birdie holes for good golfers; the long, par-4s, the
holes where all golfers can come to grief. A balance between these two hole types sets up a cascading rhythm which grips the
golfer as he progresses into the round. The short par-5s and the long par-4s
are interlaced with some short exacting par-5s and long hard par-3s so that I
believe this course provides a unique set of challenges. The new equipment has
increased the length but hardly the accuracy of golfers, which accounts for the
mix of the holes on this golf course. From the back tees it is a very
challenging golf course and I know many players will curse me. But the course
is strategic and is designed for everybody but beginners who should be on the
driving range.
The long hitters are going to find holes where they have a
definite advantage, others where they have no advantage whatever unless they
are also accurate. On some holes roll can be picked up on the drive. On most of
the holes the greens are partly open for a run-up shot. This helps when the
ground is dry enough to accept a run-up shot. This device also helps the
average golfer who is uncomfortable with a green which is surrounded by
bunkers. There are many other concerns and subtleties for both the good and
average golfer on this course. The green surfaces are reasonable, seldom more
than an average of three percent. They slope in general toward the golfer, so
that instead of a thin wafer he can see the whole green on the approach and if
this is not possible, I have graded the land until it is.
If this is not a totally fair golf course, we need to remember
that no golf course is ever, or should be, totally fair. At least here there's
the illusion of fairness. I have made a determined effort to make the golf
course reasonable.
As for grading the land, I have avoided this wherever possible.
When I did the original layout for Muirfield Village, Ohio, I adapted the
routing for three things: one was for the surrounding housing since Muirfield
was and is very much a golf course community on fifteen hundred acres; two was
to balance open and closed holes with existing trees, although many have been
planted since; and the third was to relate the course to the existing land. We
hardly moved any dirt on the fairways at Muirfield and the green sites were
more found than manufactured. Holes found like this create a great sense of
ease and comfort in the golfer. These holes have found the spirit of the site.
Now a lot of golf architects today recreate the land whether it needs it or
not. Then they put heavily designed greens on top of carefully reconstituted
green sites. Perhaps they feel they have to do a lot of work to justify their
involvement. The results may be handsome and visually effective but there is an
elusive sense of emptiness too. The spirit of the original land has been
violated and sensitive golfers seem to understand this. I don't believe anyone
will fail to notice the straightforward relationship to the site of the golf
course at Covington Plantation.
Perhaps now I can dare to repeat that this is probably the best
course structurally that I have ever designed. What do I mean by
"structurally"? Is this philosophy? Structuralism or deconstructuralism. Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida or Peter
Eisenman? Actually, it is much simpler than that. Underneath the course is
another course, an invisible armature, a structure which is filled with memory,
myth, magic and, I hope, meaning. Some of these ideas may take many rounds
before they are revealed. Some may remain a mystery forever. That is the
essence of sensitive design. I would like to discuss this in more depth in a
future article
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CAMP COVINGTON,
GUAM NAVAL BASE
Naval Base Guam is a strategic U.S. naval base located on Apra Harbor (near Pacific Ocean),
Guam. In 2009, it was combined with Andersen Air Force Base, to form Joint Region Marianas, which is a
Navy-controlled joint base. Sub-installations aboard Naval Base Guam include
Camp Covington.
Camp Covington is one of the three main body deployment locations for the Navy
Seabees. Currently, Camp Covington is a deployment site in the rotation of the
three Seabee battalions making up the 30th NCR . The 7th Fleet's Navy
Expeditionary Forces Command Pacific is also headquartered here.
The camp
has a gym, a cardio hall, and a mini-mart. It has its own barracks for
Officers, Enlisted, and Chief Petty Officers; a galley, an armory, dental
clinic, and various HQ buildings and warehouses.
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THE
COVINGTON HOUSE, TALLAHASSE FL
The Covington House, also known as the Schendel House, was
built in 1927 and added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on
September 7, 1989.
French Renaissance Style by architect. William A. Edwards, is
constructed on 1 and a half stories. Stuccoed, hollow-clay tile roof. Includes
garage and servants' quarters and stable. Built in Los Robles subdivision.
Blanche Covington was one of Florida's best known horticulturalists. Private.
N.R. 1989.
"Its nickname; "Schendel House", originated
from a family who resided in the Covington House. Laurel L. Schendel, a
prestigious professor, was resident here from the 1920s until the 1960s."
|
Street address: 328 Cortez Street, Leon County,Tallahassee,
FL USA 32303. Geographical
Location : N 30° 27.708 W 084° 16.500 |
Please send e-mails to: covingtonhistory@mhcovington.plus.com
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