ALGONQUIN – Forty years ago, The Racket Club was started by a group of Crystal Lake businessmen and tennis enthusiasts.

The men – Walt Herrick Sr., Nick Carter, Steve Morgan, Jack Thomas and Chuck Schunk – bought land in Algonquin and began laying plans for the area’s first indoor tennis club.

The club, at 9101 S. Route 31, prospered through a so-called tennis boom in the 1970s, but in 1981, the partners decided to sell the club because, although profitable, they couldn’t devote time to the business, club manager Rob Laue said.