Dartmouth’s City View Golfland Was Low-Tech Family Fun

City View Golfland has been a fixture on Faunce Corner Road in Dartmouth for most of my life. When City View disappeared, few people probably realized it was gone.

It wasn’t high-tech enough to impress modern generations looking for more stimulating entertainment.

City View Golfland consisted of a miniature golf course, pitch & putt and driving range and was built on a former dairy farm at 581 Faunce Corner Road.

According to city records, the Turner and Caswell families occupied the land for most of the 19th century.

In 1903, a Polish immigrant named Jacob Tomkiewicz bought the property and managed it until his retirement in the 1950s. Jacob’s son Walter and grandson Walter Jr. kept the farm into the 1960s and operated the City View Creamery across the street.

But Walter, Jr. gave up farming and instead taught science and math in the Dartmouth school system.

The miniature golf course opened in August 1963 and the pitch and putt the following July, according to a 2008 article by Curt Brown for the standard times.

By 2008, Walter Tomkiewicz, Jr. appears to have fallen ill and pondered the future of City View Golfland. He died the following year at the age of 70.

In July 2011, the City of Dartmouth completed an evaluation of the property where Southcoast Behavioral Health is now located.

I remember playing mini golf at City View Golfland with my dad and brother. I took my kids there. I always chose the green and white ball.

Whenever I pass the property, I remember the wooden paddle wheel, the windmill that stood between me and the hole, and the little white card and pencil we used to record the score.

Great memories that last a lifetime – even if few remember them.