A golf course was never established in Specktown, Lykens Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, but the possibility existed and it was explored in the late 1940s.
One day, Harold Dietrich showed up at his parents’ home in Specktown with a set of golf clubs and a proposal to establish a small golf course on the Riegle-Dietrich farm. Pictured above is Helen [Hoffman] Dietrich(left), who appears to be caddying for William E. “Bill” Dietrich.
The idea never came to fruition for several reasons, including that neighbors would have had to sell or lease parts of their farms in order to make a regulation size course, and some were unwilling to do so.
By 1950, a new Specktown Road, in the planning stages in the 1940s, cut through the center of the Riegle-Dietrich property cutting it into three sections.
It was not until the late 1970s that a non-farming use was found for the property, when the Gratz V. F. W. purchased the land on the south side of the road to build their headquarters.
And the Lykens Valley did not get a golf course until the Lykens Valley Golf Resort was established later.
A photo of Harold Dietrich taking a swing.
Bill Dietrich and Harold Dietrich testing the possible course.
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