The Holmesburg Fish & Game Protective Association, Inc. (HF&G) is a non-profit Sportsman’s association located on Pennypack Street, just off of State Road between the Philadelphia Police training academy and Water Dept facility in Northeast Philadelphia. HF&G has been located on the same site for the past eighty-three (94) years. It is funded through membership dues, event revenue and guest fees. HF&G does allow walk-ins and non-members the opportunity for supervised range use for a nominal fee. HF&G members see the association as a custodian and trustee of the only safe, practical, and convenient place for area residents to engage in various shooting sports within the City limits. The Association 's membership consists of approximately 1700 adult members and junior program participants. Most members are city residents. The Association publishes a monthly newsletter and its web site (http://www.holmesburgfishandgame.com) is a fair representation of all that the association is and does. Presently, HF&G offers the only opportunity to engage in shotgun sports (trap & skeet), as well as rifle and indoor/outdoor pistol and Archery within a 60-to-90 minute drive. HF&G also provides both adult and youth safety & firearm instruction that is available nowhere else in the Philadelphia area. Throughout the year, HF&G sponsors several events open to the public. These include but are by no means limited to;
- Open house days, where we provide, to any interested adults, an introduction to the various shooting disciplines and the opportunity to join the association at a reduced cost.
- Youth field day, where we provide a firearms do's and don'ts lecture, a safety lecture and the opportunity to shoot various long guns (rifles, shotguns, and muskets only, no handguns). Our youth field days are usually attended by 100 to 125 youngsters, many of whom attend as scout troops, PAL and 4H groups, church youth groups, and area residents.
- HF&G also hosts several scout troops per year for the purpose of fulfilling their marksmanship merit badge.
- Hunters Safety courses run in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
A Brief History:
In the throes of the Great Depression, a lease from the City Water Dept. was secured with the help of Sam Baxter in 1930 and the Association was founded. The association membership took about five acres of mud flats and ash dumps, and converted them into several shooting ranges, thus providing a safe area for local sportsman to practice their marksmanship skills. Over the course of the past 94 years, association members built a clubhouse, an indoor pistol range with attached meeting room, 2 shotgun ranges for skeet, trap and five-stand, an outdoor pistol range, and a 100-yard rifle range bringing the property to its present configuration. Over these many years we provided range access to the Phila. Police Dept., as well as other local law enforcement groups. Since 1998-99, we provided the Phila. Prisons System with weekday access to the outdoor pistol range, and the indoor range meeting room which they now employ as a classroom. The association ranges are also used by the Philadelphia Departments of Adult Parole and Probation, Philadelphia Department of Juvenile Probation, and the Philadelphia Housing Authority Police.
The Dark Days:
On August 1, 2007 the city served us with a "Termination of lease" letter, giving HF&G until December 21, 2007 to vacate the premises. Pursuant to that notice HF&G appealed to then Councilwoman Joan Krajewski and Councilman Brian O'Neill. Its membership, area residents and merchants mounted a letter writing campaign to City Council and other politicians. In late December, Mayor Street extended the Association's lease through April 30th, 2008. The HF&GPA continued to negotiate with the City for lease/agreement terms that would allow it to continue its mission at its current location.
Our Present Situation:
An annual usage agreement preserving the HF&GPA was executed with the Nutter administration almost a year after the HF&GPA received the original notice to vacate. The new agreement was then renewed four years later, in August of 2012. We hope this is the start of the next ninety years of providing recreation for all those interested in the safe practice of the shooting sports and we look forward to continuing our mission to serve the surrounding communities.
