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
Biography
of Frank
H. Buhl
Buhl Hospital
Buhl
Park
Places
Buhl Club, Sharon
