Georgian Court University

New Jersey

A New Jersey campus keeps one of about forty-five real tennis courts left in the world, and a British prince has played on it.

historicalculture

Inside a building called the Casino, on a Catholic campus in Lakewood, sits a court for real tennis. That is the older game the modern one is named after. It was built in eighteen ninety-nine, and roughly forty-five such courts are still in use anywhere in the world. This one is the only one at a university, and the second oldest in the country. In two thousand eighteen, Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, visited and played on it. The Casino was never a gambling hall. In the nineteenth century the word meant a place for social gatherings, and today the building works as offices and event space. The university plans to turn it into a student center. The court is one piece of a millionaire's summer estate that a religious order bought and turned into a college.

This is the first of 2 parts. The rest runs about 2 minutes and is read to you as you drive past. Hear the whole piece.

What this was written from
Approximately 45 real tennis courts are still in use in the world today. During a 2018 visit, Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh played on the court, which is the only such court at a university and the nation's second oldest.

Written from Wikipedia, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Nearby, on the same roads

  • Toms River 7.8 mi Nobody knows who Tom was, so in 1992 the town simply voted on it.
  • Camp Evans Historic District 10.7 mi In January 1946, engineers at this New Jersey site bounced a radar signal off the moon and caught the echo.
  • Fort Monmouth 17.8 mi In 1946, an Army team on this New Jersey post bounced a radio signal off the moon and heard it come back.
  • Old Bridge Township, New Jersey 21.5 mi Metallica moved across the country to this New Jersey suburb to record their first album.
  • Route 35 Drive-In 22.4 mi Bruce Springsteen played a ninety-minute set in a New Jersey parking lot, then everyone watched a movie.
  • Raritan River 27.4 mi At the end of the last ice age, the Hudson River emptied into the sea through this channel.