Our History

The early history of River Bend Gun Club dates back over 60 years to the Seven Hills Gun Club. The Seven Hills Gun Club was formed in the early 1950's and its range facilities were located just south of the intersection of Roswell Road and Interstate I285. In those days, that area was open farmland and I-285 had not been built. The club ranges were built on 25 acres of that farmland. The club had about 50 members who built a 10-point 100-yard rifle facility, a 30-point pistol range with turning targets and 2 duplex shotgun fields. Seven Hills Gun Club members enjoyed these facilities for six or seven years. By 1955, Atlanta was growing so rapidly that urban sprawl encroached on this range site. A massive apartment complex and the proposed I285 expressway forced the Seven Hills Club to relocate in 1955. This was to be the birth of River Bend Gun Club. The Seven Hills Gun Club found a 45 acre tract just north of Norcross just off Medlock Bridge Road where it crosses the Chattahoochee River. This property, located at a bend in the river, was leased to the club by the Medlock family for about $1000 per year. This site was ideally suited for a gun club since it was located on bottom land and in a sparsely populated area. The River Bend Gun Club was officially born in December 1955 at that site. This was to be its home for the next thirty two years.

River Bend Gun Club members pitched in and constructed an 80-point covered pistol line roughly 320-fect long as their first of many projects. The club erected a 33-foot by 95-foot club house just behind the pistol range on the bank of the Chattahoochee River. This served as a place to hold the annual membership meetings, various other club functions, and became the site for the indoor air gun range. During the early years, members also built a 20-position, 100-yard small-bore rifle range and a 12-point 200- yard high power range. By the late 1950's River Bend Gun Club had nearly 200 members.

Competitive shooting activities required range improvements. Members again worked to lengthen the high power range to 300 yards and to expand the small-bore line to 40 and shortly thereafter to 60 positions. Members also expanded the shotgun facilities to 5 skeet and 9 trap fields, built a running target complex and an 8-point PPC range. During the late 1950's. River Bend Gun Club had indeed the finest club facilities in the Southeast. Its members labored long and hard to build it to this status.

In the early 1960's, River Bend again began to experience the pressures of expanding urban development. Berkeley Lake subdivision, across the Chattahoochee, was growing by leaps and bounds. Some of the residents began complaining about the noise of shooting and fishermen floating the river complained about shot falling on them. To placate its subdivision neighbors the club agreed to withhold shooting until 9:00 am and to discontinue early evening shotgun activity. To solve the problem on the river, the skeet field closest to the river was retired. This was the beginning of a series of events which would eventually close this range site and force River Bend Gun Club to move.

By 1967, the growth of Atlanta suburbs had reached out beyond Norcross. The Atlanta Athletic Club purchased several hundred acres to the northeast, bordering the River Bend property. The 300-yard high-power range and the adjacent 100-yard bench rest range faced the Athletic Club property. As a matter of fact, the direction of fire was straight down a proposed golf fairway. For safety, these ranges would have to be closed when the golf course was built. These ranges were closed in 1967. This forced the use of the 100-yard range for big bore as well as small-bore rifle. The beginning of the end for this site was now clearly in view.

The River Bend Board of Directors had finally, and reluctantly, agreed that club tenure on the Norcross location was precarious at best. Part of the problem the Board of Directors faced was the need to again motivate the membership to tear down and rebuild the facilities once a new site was found. It was always easier to get members to use the ranges than to get them to assist in building, maintaining, or rebuilding them. However, the possibility that developers or local residents might be able to pressure River Bend into closing the entire complex in the near future was very real. A site search for relocation was begun in 1967.

A number of alternate sites were investigated. One looked promising. This site was located about 10-miles north of the Norcross facilities on the west side of the Chattahoochee River, not far from Suwanee. The topography would support an ample number of shotgun fields overlooking bottom land, a 600-yard high-power range, a pistol range, and a 100-yard small-bore rifle range. The asking price was $600 per acre. Prospects looked good for this site even with the uncertainty of obtaining the funds to purchase it. Then, it was learned that the Corps of Engineers were developing a proposal to build a dam somewhere in the area that could possibly flood the site. Hopes for the new site were dashed with this revelation and member morale hit an all time low. Because there still wasn't sufficient direct local pressure to close the existing facilities, new site motivation dropped and the Board of Directors discontinued the search for a new site. The Norcross site was to remain active for another decade.

Pressures mounted again on the Norcross facilities. A prominent subdivision of expensive homes was started on the west side of Medlock Road before it crossed the Chattahoochee. The Corps of Engineers began a survey along the banks of the Chattahoochee with the prospect of declaring a strip along the river a "natural area" as well. Couple this with the creation of a Federal Park across the river from the club and by the late 1970's and early 1980's it was clear to the River Bend members and the Board that time was running out. River Bend would soon have to move or terminate its existence. The external pressure finally became forceful enough to move River Bend's Board into again starting a new site search. A new subdivision was started 1000 feet in front of the trap fields which forced closure of 5 of the fields. The decision point to move or close entirely had now been reached.

A site search committee was formed in 1983. The committee assembled a list of possible sites including an area adjacent to Road Atlanta Speedway, a site in Lumpkin County near Dahlonega, another in Gwinnett County near Lawrenceville, and an area in DeKalb County off Flat Shoals Road south of Decatur, to name a few. None of them met the Board's site selection criteria. Sites either cost too much, were too far away, had unsuitable topography, or were too small. The Board now saw the difficulty, the expense, and the time it was going to take to find a suitable site. The decision to table the site search in 1967 had made the effort of finding a site in 1983 several orders of magnitude more difficult. First, acreage had to be considered. The club needed at least 150 acres of acceptable topography to develop rifle, pistol, and shotgun ranges characteristic of a full facility club. Second, the cost had to be reasonable and the site had to be accessible. None of these sites were acceptable.

Then, in early 1984 a 146 acre tract was located in Forsyth County, off highway 141 about 12 miles north of the Norcross facility. The cost was about $1200 per acre. The acreage and topography were marginal but would permit range development. Future expansion would be difficult. The Board decided to purchase this tract as the only real alternative to closing the Norcross facility.

To obtain the capital required for the purchase of the property, life memberships were offered to club members at a cost of $3000 each. The lengthy process of purchase negotiation and zoning for a gun club was started. By late 1984 the site had been purchased and plans for earth moving and range construction were begun. A bid for $106,000 was accepted to do this site work. Nothing was ever started. A field trip for the club members was planned for February 1985 to show them the property and plans for range development in the spring. The field trip was abruptly ended just as the members arrived at the entrance to the site. The entrance was blocked by a group of local citizens who called themselves "The Concerned Citizens of Forsyth County." This group denied our members access to our property by chaining up the entrance road. Egress from the area later that day was blocked by about 75 people who blocked the road. After a visit from the sheriff, the road was cleared and our members departed. Shortly after this, the same group pressured the county commission to rezone the property with restrictions. The restrictions were so severe that it made the property unusable for a gun club. This forced River Bend to find another property. Morale declined to a new all-time low. The new site location committee developed several alternatives. A possible location was visited at Kelly Bridge and Cowart Road. The owner wanted too much for the property. An area near Dawson Forest, overlooking the Etowah River, would have been excellent for the shotgun fields but unacceptable for centerfire rifle ranges. A 145-acre site off highway 9, about 10 miles south of Dawsonville, had unacceptable topography. Finally, a 281 acre site off of Hubbardsville Road in Dawson County was found. The price was reasonable at $1675 per acre and the topography was great. Given that everything else worked out. River Bend Gun Club had found its new home.

An adjacent property owner agreed to give River Bend a right of way off of Hubbardsville Road, the Dawson County Commission rezoned the property Recreational-Agricultural without problem and the limited opposition by local residents was overcome by discussion meetings with the club members. River Bend Gun Club members came through again. Now, River Bend faced moving the facilities, setting up the ranges, and redeveloping the club membership. The problem in 1986 and 1987 was member participation in working to redevelop the facilities. A small core of members pitched in and developed the covered pistol, action pistol, silhouette, multipurpose rifle, plinking, big bore and shotgun facilities. In 1989, their diligent efforts got the 600 yard high power range open. The future is bright for the 60 plus year old River Bend Gun Club as long as members are and will continue to contribute their time as well as their money to maintaining and improving club facilities. Members can never forget that River Bend is not just a place to go shoot. River Bend is a group of people dedicated to having, using, preserving, and improving their place to shoot. The future depends on dedication of River Bend members - the finest in the Southeast.