The ruins facing High Street/Old Route 100 at 4th Green dates back to 1736 

In the late 1680's, by way of three land grants, William Penn set aside 3500 acres southwest of Philadelphia to form a Quaker village originally named for its first tavern, Turk's Head, and later renamed West Chester. Daniel Hoopes, a Quaker from neighboring Westtown, bought a 630 acre tract of land from the Nathaniel Puckel family, one the original Penn grantees, in 1727 for three of his seven sons to farm, Daniel, Thomas and John with a fourth and youngest son, Nathaniel, to live on John's portion until land for a fourth farm could be located and acquired.

 And so in 1735, the four brothers moved into tents and went into the construction business to build three farm houses near what was to become Pottstown Pike/Route 100/High Street using stone from the quarry now on the golf course's 4th hole, as their basic building material. The last building put up in 1736 was a tenant house for 18 year old Nate at the current intersection of Goshen Road and High Streets.

The Hoopes family originally from Yorkshire, England by way of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, was a fertile clan that by 1980 begot some 30 thousand souls including Hubert H. Humphrey, Lyndon Johnson's Vice President and Minnesota ballpark honoree.

About the ruins, a local historian and Dickinson scholar, Douglas Harper, wrote in his 1999 book: "West Chester To 1865:That Elegant & Notorious Place":  

"The house built by the fourth(Hoopes) son is the ruins that now stands in the middle of a golf course just west of high street, heading out of town. Nathan Hoopes built this tenant house on his brother John’s property in 1736. The situation of the house, facing north towards Goshen Road that long ago stopped running past its door, testifies to its age. It was until its recent demise the second oldest still-standing structure in the borough. Its  fate- being pelted to rubble by golf balls- was a sad end to an old tale."

Other History:

1) The Lowndes Taylor family bought the John Hoopes farm and tenant property in the early 1800's. Lowndes signed the original lease to the club for the golf course two years before it was finished in 1906. Joe Strode, the club's president in 1966, finalized the purchase of the club property from the Taylor heirs.

2) Dr. Glenn Killinger, Penn State back listed on the first Walter Camp All American Team in 1921(also drafted by the Yankees Baseball and Giants Football Clubs), and notable Athletic Director and Dean of Men at West Chester U.,  was a board member, grounds chairman and club champion during a period dating from the1930's to the 1970's. 

3) In 2002, the Board of Governor's with some help from Marinelli & Sons, a local builder's supply company, decided to save the 266 year old "Hoopes Ruins", in part, because it is a "poor tee shot" barrier between the 5th tee and 4th green along with its historical value.

4) Jim Furyk was born in West Chester, during the 1970's when his father Mike was head pro at West Chester Golf & CC. In 2003, when Jim won the U S Open, Comcast sent a TV news team to the club to interview the members on their recollection of the Furyks. Pete Giunta, board member and house chairman, when interviewed came up with the line: "Jim's roots are here, so we were rooting for him to win the Open."  Hello... that's the kind of humor that we come up with 'round here. Sadly, we lost Pete to cancer in 2005.