Fairmount Rowing Association

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Fairmount Rowing Association
Fairmount.gif
Image showing the rowing club's blade colours
Location#2 Boathouse Row, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Home waterSchuylkill River
Established1877
Navy admission1916
Key people
  • John Krajewski (President)
  • John Scott (Captain)
  • Michael J Murphy (Navy delegate)
  • Pat Rufo (Coach)
ColorsBlue   and White  
AffiliationsLa Salle University, Episcopal Academy
Websitefairmountrowing.com
Fairmount Rowing Association
Fairmount Rowing Association is located in Pennsylvania
Fairmount Rowing Association
LocationPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
CoordinatesCoordinates: 39°58′09″N 75°11′09″W / 39.96923°N 75.18593°W / 39.96923; -75.18593
Part ofBoat House Row (ID87000821[1])
Added to NRHPFebruary 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]

References[]

  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 designating buildings 1-15 E. River Dr. (Boathouse Row) as Historic places. Search "Boat House Row" in the Resource Name box.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Silverberg, Lee (19 May 2008). "A Very Brief History of the Fairmount Rowing Association". Fairmount Rowing Association. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  4. ^ Teresa Z. Bell won an Olympic medal in the Lightweight Women’s Double. See Walker, Teresa M. (28 July 1996). "U.S. Rowing Women Fall Short Of Gold". Washington Post. Retrieved 1 May 2010. Bell was rowing out of Fairmount. See "Schuylkill Navy Honors Philadelphia's National Teamers". Rowing News. 3 (22). 15–29 December 1996. p. 3. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  5. ^ James Castellan competed in the 1976 olympics. See Hood, 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 11 December 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2010. Castellan is a Fairmount rower. See Silverberg, Lee (19 May 2008). "A Very Brief History of the Fairmount Rowing Association". Fairmount Rowing Association. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 1 May 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. ^ Jump up to: a b c Peverelly, Charles A. (1866). "Pacific Barge Club". The Book of American Pastimes. New York: Author. p. 217.
  8. ^ Moak, Jefferson (27 November 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 29 October 2013. Retrieved 7 May 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[]

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