Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club |
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| Location | #14 Boathouse Row, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. |
| Home water | Schuylkill River |
| Established | 1938 |
| Navy admission | 1967 |
| Colors | Royal Blue and White |
| Affiliations | Agnes Irwin School |
| Website | philadelphiagirlsrowingclub.com |
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Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club
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U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
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| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Location | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Built | 1860 |
| Part of | Boat House Row (ID87000821) |
| Added to NRHP | February 27, 1987 |
The Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club (or PGRC for short) is a special club for people who love rowing. It's located at #14 Boathouse Row in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, right by the Schuylkill River. This club is super important because it's the oldest rowing club just for women!
The building where PGRC is located was built way back in 1860. It's the oldest building on Boathouse Row, which is a famous place listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This means it's a very important historical spot!
PGRC started in 1938. Seventeen women, many of whom were married to male rowers, decided to create their own club. At that time, rowing was mostly a sport for men, and these women wanted to join in the fun!
Contents
History of the Boathouse: A Home for Rowers
The building that is now #14 Boathouse Row has a long and interesting history.
Building the Boathouse
In 1860, the city of Philadelphia decided to build this structure. It was originally meant to be a home for the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society.
The architect, James C. Sidney, designed the building for the Skating Club. But he also made sure it had a basement. This basement was used to store boats for other rowing clubs nearby. Their boathouses were going to be removed by the city. A famous architect named Samuel Sloan probably helped with the design. He had a drawing called "Italian Villa" that looked similar. The building cost $4,900 to build and was finished in 1861.
Who Else Lived Here?
For a while, two other rowing clubs, the Undine and University Barge Clubs, kept their boats in the Skating Club building. They stayed there until they could build their own boathouses in 1882 and 1871.
Later, from 1884 to 1895, another club called the second Iona Boat Club used the space. This was after the Undine Barge Club moved out.
PGRC Buys the Boathouse
As time went on, people started using indoor ice skating rinks. This meant fewer people were skating on the Schuylkill River. So, in 1965, the Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club bought the boathouse from the Philadelphia Skating Club. This gave PGRC its permanent home!
Boathouse Occupants Over Time
The timeline below shows which clubs have used the boathouse at #14 Boathouse Row throughout its history.
Images for kids
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Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club, #14 Boathouse Row in 1870.
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Samuel Sloan's "Italian Villa" lithograph that influenced the design of #14 Boathouse Row.
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Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club in 1972.
See also
- Ernestine Bayer
