Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club

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]

Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club

Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club, # 14 Boathouse Row
Location	#14 Boathouse Row, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Home water	Schuylkill River
Established	1938
Navy admission	1967[1]
Key people	Sophie Socha (President)
Colors	Royal Blue   and White
Affiliations	Agnes Irwin School
Website	philadelphiagirlsrowingclub.com
Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Philadelphia Register of Historic Places
Location	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Built	1860
Part of	Boathouse Row (ID87000821[2])
Added to NRHP	February 27, 1987

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

• Philadelphia portal

• Ernestine Bayer

Further reading

• Stillner, Anna (2005). The Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club: An Incremental Historic Structure Report (Thesis). Retrieved April 30, 2010.

• "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. p. 666. Archived from the original on December 14, 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
• Lewis, John Frederick (1895). Skating and the Philadelphia Skating Club. Philadelphia. pp. 32–52.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• 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.
• "Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club on Boathouse Row". About.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
• "Philadelphia Girls' Rowing Club". Facebook. Retrieved May 6, 2010.
• PGRC on wikimapia.org