A Little History

The Mechanicsburg Sportsmen's Protective Association was incorporated July 7, 1949.  The club is situated on 153 acres purchased October 15, 1956 for $5,400.  $8000 was borrowed to purchase the land, construct the pond, and build the original club house.  The original mortgage was paid off on May 11, 1966. 

Over the years, the club house was enlarged, improvements were made to the rifle and archery ranges.  Trees were lumbered to raise money and thin out the forest.  Improvements were made to the pond.  In 1972, we built a trout nursery on Trindle Run on Mechanicsburg Water Company land.  In the mid-70's, the old cabin was torn down and replaced with a new garage and pavilion. In the mid-80's, we began hosting a Children's Fishing Derby. In 1989, many new improvements were started.  Outdoor restrooms were constructed and 3 new field archery courses were built.  In 1990, the courses were completed and the entrance road paved to support hosting Pennsylvania State archery shoots.  Safety baffles were installed on the 25- and 50 yard rifle ranges.  In 1994, a new trap field was constructed, which included adding a fully automatic trap.  The archery practice field was rebuilt with new archery butts.  In 1992, we cemented the outdoor pavilion floor and the 25- and 50 yard rifle ranges.

We continued improvements in 1997 by paving the lower parking lot. The 10 acre trout nursery tract of land was purchased in 1998. Following this purchase, we rebuilt the raceways in 2000. Reconstruction of the 25-, 50-, and 100 yard ranges took place in mid-1990’s. The new clubhouse with its indoor center fire pistol range was constructed in 1999. Thanks to a grant from the NRA, the indoor pistol range became a great feature of our club. Two additional traps with lighted fields were also added at this time. A need for a pavilion down near the pond was seen and one was later built in 2000.                                                       

Mechanicsburg Sportsmen’s Protective Association began to offer NRA-certified firearm classes in mid-1990’s; currently, Basic, Instructor, and Range Safety Officer classes are held. As a club, we are members of the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs (PFSC), National Rifle Association (NRA), Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), Pennsylvania Rifle and Pistol Association (PRPA), Amateur Trap Association (ATA), Pennsylvania State Archery Association (PSAA), Cumberland Valley Archery League (CVAL), Penn Dutch Archery League, and National Field Archers Association (NFAA).

THE FUTURE LOOKS GREAT FOR THE BEST SPORTSMEN’S CLUB IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA!