Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club

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Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club
Philadelphia Girls RC 2010.jpg
Location #14 Boathouse Row, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Home water Schuylkill River
Established 1938
Navy admission 1967[1]
President Sophie Socha
Colors Royal Blue      and White     
Affiliations Agnes Irwin School
Website philadelphiagirlsrowingclub.com
Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club
Location Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Built 1860
Part of Boat House Row (#87000821[2])
Added to NRHP February 27, 1987

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

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  • PGRC on wikimapia.org

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Stillner, p. 105
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  5. ↑ Stillner, p. 5
  6. ↑ Stillner, pp. 21-22
  7. ↑ Stillner, p. 24
  8. ↑ Stillner, p. 22
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Stillner, p. 28
  10. ↑ Stillner, p. 29
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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