Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club
and White
Contributing property
Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club (commonly abbreviated PGRC) is an amateur rowing club located at #14 Boathouse Row in the historic Boathouse Row along the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the oldest all-female rowing club in existence.[3] Built in 1860, the club's boathouse is the oldest structure on Boathouse Row,[1] which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark.[4]
PGRC was founded in 1938 by seventeen women (mostly wives of oarsmen at other clubs) who wanted to participate in the then predominantly male sport of rowing.[1][3]
History of the boathouse
In 1860, Philadelphia City Council authorized construction of the structure that is now #14 Boathouse Row for the purpose of housing the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society.[5]
Architect, James C. Sidney, designed the building to provide for the Skating Club, but also included a basement facility to store boats for neighboring rowing clubs whose boat houses were scheduled to be removed by the city.[6] Samuel Sloan, a well-known Philadelphia architect, likely influenced the design of #14 Boathouse Row with his rendering of "Italian Villa," Plate XXIV, in his book "Model Architect."[7] The construction cost $4,900 and was completed in 1861.[8]
The Undine and University Barge Clubs housed their boats at the Philadelphia Skating Club building until the city permitted them to build their own structures in 1882 and 1871, respectively.[9] From 1884 through 1895, the second Iona Boat Club (now defunct) occupied the space in the building left vacant by Undine Barge Club.[9]
With the advent of artificially frozen indoor skating rinks at the beginning of the 20th century, skating on the Schuylkill River declined precipitously.[10] In 1965, PGRC purchased the boathouse from the Philadelphia Skating Club.[11]
Occupant timeline
Photo gallery
- Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club, #14 Boathouse Row in 1870.
- Samuel Sloan's "Italian Villa" lithograph that influenced the design of #14 Boathouse Row.
- Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club in 1972.
See also
Further reading
- Stillner, Anna (2005). The Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club: An Incremental Historic Structure Report (Thesis). Retrieved April 30, 2010.
- "National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form". NPS Focus, National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, US Department of the Interior. November 27, 1983. p. 666. Retrieved May 7, 2010.[permanent dead link]
- Lewis, John Frederick (1895). Skating and the Philadelphia Skating Club. Philadelphia. pp. 32–52.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Sweeney, Joe. "The History of the Penn Athletic Club Rowing Association: Part 2 - Beginning of the Clubs". Schuylkill Navy. Archived from the original on June 20, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
- "Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club on Boathouse Row". About.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
- "Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club". Facebook. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
- PGRC on wikimapia.org
References
- ^ a b c Stillner, p. 105
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ a b "Thomas Eakins Head of the Schuylkill Regatta 2009 Program" (PDF). Thomas Eakins Head of the Schuylkill Regatta. 2009: 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 12, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
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(help) - ^ "Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State" (PDF). National Historic Landmarks Survey, National Park Service. p. 81. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 24, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
- ^ Stillner, p. 5
- ^ Stillner, pp. 21-22
- ^ Stillner, p. 24
- ^ Stillner, p. 22
- ^ a b Stillner, p. 28
- ^ Stillner, p. 29
- ^ "Boathouse Row". Living Places. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
External links
- Official website
- v
- t
- e
members
- Commodore - John Hogan, Penn AC
- Vice Commodore - Paul Horvat, Vesper BC
- Secretary - Jennifer Donsky, Penn AC
- Treasurer - Joel Sussman, Bachelors BC
- Quartermaster - Jack Lees, Crescent BC
- Log Keeper - Joe McFadden, Undine BC
boat
clubs
- Amateur
- American Barge Club[f]
- Atlantic Boat Club (1st)
- Atlantic Boat Club (2nd)
- Camilla Boat Club[f]
- Chebucto Barge Club[f]
- Excelsior Boat Club
- Falcon Barge Club[f]
- Independent Barge Club[f]
- Iona Boat Club (1st)
- Iona Boat Club (2nd)
- Keystone Barge Club (1st)[f]
- Keystone Barge Club (2nd)
- LaSalle Rowing Association
- Nautilus
- Neptune Barge Club (1st)
- Neptune Barge Club (2nd)
- Pacific Barge Club
- Philadelphia Barge Club
- Pickwick Barge Club
- Quaker City Barge Club
- Sedgeley Club
- Union Barge Club
- Washington Barge Club
- West Philadelphia Boat Club
39°58′10″N 75°11′07″W / 39.96935°N 75.18537°W / 39.96935; -75.18537