774 RYLAND HEIGHTS Blue Barron Orchestra while the orchestra’s leader went off to war. Afterward, Ryan had his own band, which played in prominent clubs along the East Coast. Songs that he recorded include “My Buddy” (1937), “Rosalie” (1937), “Love Walks In” (1938), “I Understand” (1941), “This Is No Laughing Matter” (1941), “Mexicali Rose,” “Until Tomorrow,’’ ”When You Wish upon a Star,” and “You Stepped out of a Dream.” He retired from the entertainment world before 1950, and he died in 1989. “T.B. Lidington Dies Suddenly of Heart Attack,” KP, April 18, 1952, 1.
Michael R. Sweeney
RYLAND HEIGHTS. The small Kenton Co. community of Ryland Heights is located along Decoursey Pk. (Ky. Rt. 177), just south of Fairview. Ryland Heights grew up around a Kentucky Central Railroad Depot (predecessor of the Louisville and Nashville), which was built in the mid1850s. The city’s name is taken from a prosperous farmer and early settler of the area, James W. Ryland. The surrounding countryside is quite scenic, with a panoramic view of both the Licking River and several nearby beautiful lakes. Ryland Heights was granted a post office in 1873, but it was closed six years later. A group of businessmen from Cincinnati and from Northern Kentucky opened the Crystal Lake Country Club nearby in 1892. The club’s name was changed to the Kentucky Fishing and Shooting Club in 1904 and to the Ryland Country Club in 1918. Ryland Heights was incorporated as a sixthclass city in 1972, primarily to make it more difficult for neighboring communities, such as Covington, to annex the area. The Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission has designated Ry-
land Heights as an agricultural and rural residential area, a classification that requires largerthan-average home building lots. Residents hope that such restrictions will discourage rapid development, especially the construction of large subdivisions, and help preserve their quiet way of life. Since originally founded, the city itself has made several annexations and now contains an area of about five square miles. The 2000 U.S. Census listed Ryland Heights as having a population of 799 people. A publicly elected mayor and city council govern the city. Ryland Heights has a volunteer fire department and an ambulance ser vice, but its police protection is provided by the Kenton Co. Police Department. Reis, Jim. “Tiny Towns,” KP, June 30, 1986. 4K. “Ryland Heights: A Rural Community and Residents Like It That Way,” KP, March 28, 1991, 4K. U.S. Census Bureau. “American Fact Finder. Data Set. Census 2000 Summary File 1 (SF1) 100-Percent Data. Custom Table.” www.census.gov (accessed January 21, 2006). Voorhees, Elaine G. Ryland: The First 100 Years. Cincinnati: Graphic Information Systems, ca. 1992.
RYLAND LAKES COUNTRY CLUB. The residential country club Ryland Lakes was established along the Licking River in a scenic valley served by the Kentucky Central Railroad. The club’s history goes back to 1892, when 18 businessmen leased 55 acres of land from a Kenton Co. farmer, John Mendenhall, to establish the Crystal Lake Fishing Club. In 1904 that club reorganized as the Kentucky Fishing and Shooting Club, incorporated, expanded its membership, and purchased a total of 163 acres (including its originally leased 55 acres). Some of the land was divided into sites for the building of
member cottages; 38 cottages had been built by 1907. While some residents lived there year-round, many made it a summer home. Because the club was conveniently located along the railroad, businessmen could commute daily to and from their jobs in Covington or Cincinnati and spend the evenings with their families in this “summer resort.” In 1905 a large clubhouse was constructed, and a chef was hired shortly thereafter. Swimming, fishing, canoeing, and shooting were activities available to members in the early years. In 1919 the Kentucky Fishing and Shooting Club changed its name to Ryland Lakes Country Club. Ryland was the name of the railroad station serving the area, as well as of a local family who had intermarried with the Mendenhalls and had built, in 1872, a large hilltop home (still standing) that overlooks the club. By the 1920s, a nine-hole golf course and two clay tennis courts were built; a saddle club and a baseball field followed by the 1940s. Over the years the club purchased additional acreage. In April 1979 the clubhouse was destroyed by fire and a new one was subsequently built. The club acquired the nickname of Little Switzerland, given to it by well-known member and artist Frank Duveneck. Other prominent members included Clement Barnhorn, Richard Pretlow Ernst, Maurice L. Galvin, and the Jergens, Herschede, and Whiting families of Cincinnati. McLean, M. H. Little Switzerland. Covington, Ky.: Wolff ’s Standard, 1943. Paeth, Greg. “Life Is Ever So Easy at Ryland Lakes,” KP, July 9, 1983, 1K. Voorhees, Elaine, and Steven Schwierjohann. Ryland: The First 100 Years. Cincinnati: Graphic Information Systems, 1992.
Paul A. Tenkotte