The NORCO (Norton Company) Sportsmen’s Club was formed in 1937 by a group of Sportsmen working at Norton Company. One of those charter members is still active at the club and serves in the capacity of Trustee. Norton Company subsidized the sportsman's club as it did to all other social organizations made up of Norton employees. Norton would continue to subsidize the NORCO Sportsmen’s club as long as the membership was made up of only Norton employees or employees who left Norton Company in Good Standing.  Therefore the club was a private organization, closed to the general public until 1991. Saint Gobain, who no longer wanted to subsidize the organization, purchased Norton Company at this time.  The club was then open to the public and today about 50% of the active members never worked at Norton Company. At present the club membership stands at 144 members.  A new member must join as an associate and through his/her work effort he may get upgraded to a full membership. The cost to join the club is $50 with a one-time initiation fee of $10. The members have an eight-hour work requirement and if they fail to meet that obligation his $50 dues is accessed an additional $50. We also support junior memberships with an adult member sponsor and currently have about 10 junior memberships.

After meeting in the Norton Field House for nearly 10 years the NORCO club came to Princeton to purchase Snow Pond. Negotiations did not go well and they diverted their attention to three parcels totaling 305 Acres at the end of Bullard Road extending to Route 31. They took out a loan which was co-signed by John Jeppson the then owner of Norton Company and purchased the land in 1947 and is where the club resides today. The original clubhouse was a structure located to the North side of the Van Auken residence on Houghton Road.  This burnt down in the early 1950’s and was replaced with the existing clubhouse.  The existing clubhouse was the engineering shack used to build Machine Division on Brooks Street in Worcester where the Theaters now stand. They company gave the structure to the club. They had it cut in half and moved to the Houghton Street Site for a cost of a little over $1500, which was added to the original mortgage. They finally had a mortgage burning in the early 1970’s when the membership made the final payment.

In 1994 the club explored the opportunity to work with the MDC to sell the building rights of a portion of the 305 acres.  In 1997 the NORCO Sportsmen’ s club entered into an agreement with the MDC to put a conservation restriction on 265 Acres of the club property. Forty or so acres where kept out which represents the recreation , buildings and ranges.  After the agreement the club purchased 47 acres that was land locked between NORCO and Mosher, increasing the acreages to approximately 350 acres of land that will always remain open space.

There is an historical site on the property. Just south on Houghton road from the Club entrance gate is the remnants of a cellar Hole. This area was recently cleaned up and marked by Mike Keyes in a project for his Eagle Scout Rank.  The site is the Joshua Wilder site, which was the first recorded settlement in Princeton.

Today we are stewards of the forest and are in a forestry/wildlife management program.  We have active Rifle, Trap and Archery Ranges. We stock over 500 pheasant on the property in the fall during bird hunting season this program is in conjunction with the division of fisheries and Wildlife.  We have over the past 2 years stocked the Wachusett Brook, which runs through our property.  We have plans to establish a pond where we can eventually support a youth program on the property for fishing and sporting activities. We are grooming fields on the property to support both small and large wildlife. We have evidence of moose and deer habitation on the property, along with snowshoe hare Turkeys, partridge, left over pheasant, beavers, fishers, birds of pray (owls and Hawks)  and many other species of animals and birds.

There are a number of trails that run though the property and you are encouraged to explore them and take in the wonderful things nature has to offer. The safety zones for the ranges are well marked for your safety.  If you do hike the woods in the fall hunting season be sure to wear visible clothing when in the woods.

The club is open every Thursday evening and our regular monthly meeting is held on the second Thursday of the month.  The BOD meets on the fourth Thursday of each month. Trap shooting in good weather on scheduled basis takes place on Thursday evenings and will be including Tuesday evenings for the summer months.  The Club sponsors four major Social activities throughout the year. In late March we have the opportunity to share in our fruits of the past hunting season with a Game Dinner, which has grown to a huge success.  In June we have a Steak BBQ, which is always a good time to start the summer months off with.  In August we finish off the summer with an old fashion New England Clam bake. Then in September we have a Pig Roast. This will be the third year for this event and it has proven to be a popular event. We welcome you to purchase tickets to any of these events and join in on the good times. Other events during the year are an annual Ice Fishing Derby, Fresh Water Fishing derby,  and at least one deep sea fishing trip. The last few years we have been giving the use of the property to the Princeton Recreation Committee for their annual Halloween Party, which has been well attended.  The club is also available for small functions, the clubhouse can hold up to 75 people.  In the future we plan an outside pavilion, which in the summer will support larger functions.

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