Fairmount Rowing Association is an amateur rowing

Rowing (sport)

Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...

 club, founded in 1877. The facility, located at #2 Boathouse Row in the historic Boathouse Row

Boathouse Row

-Early 19th century beginnings:The history of Boathouse Row begins with the construction of the Fairmount Dam and the adjacent Water Works. The Dam was built in 1810 as part of a lock at the Falls of the Schuylkill to bring coal downriver. The Dam submerged rapids and transformed the Schuylkill...

 of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, is on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

. Fairmount originally catered to blue-collar youths living in the Fairmount

Fairmount, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Fairmount is a United States neighborhood in the North Philadelphia area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The name "Fairmount" itself derives from the prominent hill on which the Philadelphia Museum of Art now sits, and where William Penn originally intended to build his own manor house...

 neighborhood. In 1916, after decades of being rejected, the club was finally allowed to join the Schuylkill Navy

Schuylkill Navy

The Schuylkill Navy is an association of amateur rowing clubs of Philadelphia. Founded in 1858, it is the oldest amateur athletic governing body in the United States...

. The Club boasts being known as the "premiere club for Masters rowing in the mid-Atlantic region" and has produced several world class rowers.

History of the boathouse

The structure currently known as #2 Boathouse Row

Boathouse Row

-Early 19th century beginnings:The history of Boathouse Row begins with the construction of the Fairmount Dam and the adjacent Water Works. The Dam was built in 1810 as part of a lock at the Falls of the Schuylkill to bring coal downriver. The Dam submerged rapids and transformed the Schuylkill...

 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.

Pacific Barge Club

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

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. Smedley, specialized in colonial revival residences, and also designed the Northern National Bank and the West Philadelphia Title and Trust Company.

Camilla Boat Club and Quaker City Barge Club

Camilla Boat Club was a founding member of the Schuylkill Navy

Schuylkill Navy

The Schuylkill Navy is an association of amateur rowing clubs of Philadelphia. Founded in 1858, it is the oldest amateur athletic governing body in the United States...

. Camilla was a champion of the Schuylkill, but the Club disband as a result of disagreements between members. In 1858, the remnants of the defunct Camilla Boat Club reorganized to form Quaker City Barge Club.

By 1866, Quaker City Barge Club had purchased #3 Boathouse Row from the Pacific Barge Club. Among various rowing accomplishment, Quaker City raced the first four oared boat with coxswain

Coxswain (rowing)

In a crew, the coxswain is the member who sits in the stern facing the bow, steers the boat, and coordinates the power and rhythm of the rowers.- Role :The role of a coxswain within a crew is to:...

. The Quaker City Barge Club began to decline in the 1880s and never raced in the Schuylkill Navy Regatta after 1926. In 1932, the Quaker City Barge Club declared itself “inactive” in the Schuylkill Navy and became completely defunct in the 1940s. 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.

External links

• Fairmount Rowing Association on wikimapia.org