Fairmount Rowing Association

Fairmount Rowing Association

Location	#2 Boathouse Row, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Home water	Schuylkill River
Established	1877
Navy admission	1916
Key people	John Krajewski (President) Pat Rufo (Coach)
Colors	Blue   and White
Affiliations	La Salle University, Episcopal Academy
Website	fairmountrowing.com
Fairmount Rowing Association
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Philadelphia Register of Historic Places
Show map of Pennsylvania Show map of the United States
Location	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates	39°58′09″N75°11′09″W / 39.96923°N 75.18593°W / 39.96923; -75.18593
Part of	Boathouse Row (ID87000821 [1] )
Added to NRHP	February 27, 1987

Fairmount Rowing Association is an amateur rowing club, founded in 1877. The facility, located at #2 Boathouse Row in the historic Boathouse Row of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is on the National Register of Historic Places. ^[2] Fairmount originally catered to blue-collar youths living in the Fairmount neighborhood. ^[3] In 1916, after decades of being rejected, the club was finally allowed to join the Schuylkill Navy. ^[3] The Club boasts being known as the "premiere club for Masters rowing in the mid-Atlantic region" ^[3] and has produced several world class rowers. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

History of the boathouse

The two-story 1860 gothic structure at #3 on the left is now part of the 1904 three-story Georgian Revival structure on the right that replaced Pacific Barge Club's old #2.

The structure currently known as #2 Boathouse Row is a result of a 1945 expansion project that eliminated #3 Boathouse Row by merging it into Fairmount Rowing Association's building at #2 Boathouse Row. ^[3]

Pacific Barge Club

Pacific Barge Club was founded in 1859, but was not a member of the Schuylkill Navy. ^[7] In 1860, Pacific Barge Club built a stone cottage-style boathouse at the site of #2 Boathouse row. ^[7] Half of the building was occupied by the Pacific Barge Club while the other half was rented to the Philadelphia Boat Club. ^[7] In 1881, the Fairmount Rowing Association purchased #2 Boathouse Row and Pacific Barge Club's equipment. ^[3]

In 1904, Fairmount Rowing demolished the stone building built by Pacific Barge Club. Walter Smedley, a founder of the T-Square Club, designed the Georgian Revival style Flemish bond brick structure that replaced the 1860 stone boathouse and now occupies the southern half of the Fairmount Rowing's boathouse. ^[3] Smedley, specialized in colonial revival residences, and also designed the Northern National Bank and the West Philadelphia Title and Trust Company. ^[8]

Camilla Boat Club and Quaker City Barge Club

Camilla Boat Club was a founding member of the Schuylkill Navy. ^[9] Camilla was a champion of the Schuylkill, but the Club disband as a result of disagreements between members. ^[10] In 1858, the remnants of the defunct Camilla Boat Club reorganized to form Quaker City Barge Club. ^[11]

By 1866, Quaker City Barge Club had purchased #3 Boathouse Row from the Pacific Barge Club. ^[12] Among various rowing accomplishment, Quaker City raced the first four oared boat with coxswain. ^[13] The Quaker City Barge Club began to decline in the 1880s and never raced in the Schuylkill Navy Regatta after 1926. ^[3] In 1932, the Quaker City Barge Club declared itself “inactive” in the Schuylkill Navy and became completely defunct in the 1940s. ^[3] In 1945, under the leadership of John Carlin, Fairmount Rowing Association bought Quaker City Barge Club's equipment and absorbed its boathouse, which now serves as the northern half of Fairmount Rowing's boathouse. ^[3]

• 
  Fairmount Rowing Association,
  #2 Boathouse Row.

References

• Philadelphia portal

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
2. NPS Focus, National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, US Department of the Interior Archived 2008-07-25 at the Wayback Machine designating buildings 1-15 E. River Dr. (Boathouse Row) as Historic places. Search "Boat House Row" in the Resource Name box.
3. Silverberg, Lee (May 19, 2008). "A Very Brief History of the Fairmount Rowing Association". Fairmount Rowing Association. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
4. Teresa Z. Bell won an Olympic medal in the Lightweight Women’s Double. SeeWalker, Teresa M. (July 28, 1996). "U.S. Rowing Women Fall Short Of Gold". Washington Post. Retrieved May 1, 2010. Bell was rowing out of Fairmount. See "Schuylkill Navy Honors Philadelphia's National Teamers". Rowing News. Vol. 3, no. 22. December 15–29, 1996. p. 3. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
5. James Castellan competed in the 1976 olympics. SeeHood, Clifton R. (June 2006). "Penn in the Olympics: Penn Athletes Competing in the Olympic Games". University Archives and Records Center, University of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on December 11, 2010. Retrieved May 1, 2010. Castellan is a Fairmount rower. SeeSilverberg, Lee (May 19, 2008). "A Very Brief History of the Fairmount Rowing Association". Fairmount Rowing Association. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
6. • Stan Cwiklinski, 1964 US Olympic gold medalist in the Men's Eight, rowed with Fairmount until joining Vesper Boat Club in 1963. See Stan Cwiklinski sports-reference.com Archived 2012-10-25 at the Wayback Machine
7. Peverelly, Charles A. (1866). "Pacific Barge Club". The Book of American Pastimes. New York: Author. p.  217.
8. Moak, Jefferson (November 27, 1983). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form". NPS Focus, National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, US Department of the Interior. p. 674. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
9. Crowther, Samuel; Arthur Brown Ruhl (1905). "The Beginnings of Rowing". Rowing and Track Athletics. New York: MacMillan. p.  24.
10. Peverelly, Charles A. (1866). "Quaker City Barge Club". The Book of American Pastimes. New York: Author. p.  208.
11. Kelley, Robert F. (1932). American rowing; Its Background and Traditions. G. P. Putnam's sons. p. 59.
12. Peverelly, Charles A. (1866). "Quaker City Barge Club". The Book of American Pastimes. New York: Author. p.  210.
13. Heiland, Louis (1938). The Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia, 1858 - 1937. Philadelphia: The Drake Press, Inc. p. 60.

Further reading

• "Boathouse Row". Living Places. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
• "Thomas Eakins Head of the Schuylkill Regatta 2009 Program" (PDF). Thomas Eakins Head of the Schuylkill Regatta. 2009. p. 18. Retrieved April 30, 2010.^{[ dead link ‍]}
• "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. pp. 659–60. Archived from the original on December 14, 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
• Burt, Nathaniel (1999). "The Schuylkill Navy". The Perennial Philadelphians: the anatomy of an American aristocracy. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 297. ISBN   978-0-8122-1693-6.
• Heiland, Louis (1938). The Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia, 1858 - 1937. Philadelphia: The Drake Press, Inc. p. 69.
• Janssen, Frederick W. (August 15, 1888). "Quaker City Barge Club". Outing Library of Sports: American Amateur Athletic and Aquatic History 1829-1888. New York. p. 212.
• Keyser, K. C. (1872). "The Pacific Barge Club and The Quaker City Barge Club". Fairmount Park: Sketches of its Scenery, Waters, and History (5th ed.). Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen, and Haffelfinger. pp.  131–32.
• Scharf, John Thomas; Westcott, Thompson (1884). "Public Squares, Parks, and Monuments". History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884. Vol. 3. L. H. Everts & Company. p. 1871.
• Stillner, Anna (2005). The Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club: An Incremental Historic Structure Report (Thesis). pp. 100–01. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
• 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.

External links

• "Fairmount Rowing Association". Facebook. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
• Fairmount Rowing Association on wikimapia.org