Atglen Sportsmen's Club History

The Atglen Sportsmen’s Club has over a 100 year rich and long history. Origins of the club can be traced back to shooting events dating from 1901 when the club was known as the Christiana-Atglen Gun Club.

In the early days of the club there were many shooting matches held at the club and competition shoots with other clubs in the area. By 1913 the Club changed its name and was known as the Atglen Gun Club. In 1913 the club hosted a shoot that boasted the largest number of shooters to date, 60 in total. It was reported that in 1918 every male resident of Atglen was a member of the Gun Club.

In 1948, the Atglen Gun Club was reorganized into the Atglen Sportsmen’s Club. In 1951 the Atglen Sportsmen’s Club completed the legal procedure to become a corporation with a membership of 500. The aim of the club was to provide better hunting in the area, to increase interests in conservation in the community, and to carry on other normal activities of a game association, such as field trials, shooting events, etc.

By 1959, the club membership was the largest of any club in the county.  In the same year the Club purchased 35 acres of land which the club planned to use for a rifle range, pistol range, a bow and arrow course, and also planned to improve nine-tenths of a stream on the property for fly fishing. Also announcements were made that Hunter Safety and Marksmanship Training courses will be sponsored by the club. In 1959 The National Rifle Association announced that the Atglen Sportsmen’s Club was granted NRA membership and that the club will promote competitive shooting with members firing in local, regional, and national registered matches and championships.

In 1960, the Archery committee reported that all of its members were affiliated with the Pennsylvania State Archery Association. In 1966 the Atglen Sportsmen’s Club announced that settlement was completed for the purchase of sixty five additional acres of land that a joins the thirty five acres the club already owns. The clubs plans for the additional land included improved roads, a trap shoot and a 500 yard rifle range. This is in addition to the 14 target field archery course, a pistol range, a small rifle range, and a 100 yard hi-power rifle range that the club had in operation.

In 1968, the new clubhouse was constructed. In 1970 the Clubhouse was expanded to house an indoor range that today is used for both small bore and archery. In 1977 a walk through archery course and the upper rifle range were added. In 1992 Sporting clays were added to the club’s activities.

Today, Atglen Sportsmen’s Club is affiliated with the Civil Marksmanship (CMP), hosts a youth shooting league, indoor and outdoor archery programs, sporting clays, high power silhouette, small bore silhouette, cast bullet, cowboy lever action, Hunter/Trapper Education program of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and NRA Basic Rifle Course.