University Barge Club History

History of the University Barge Club

The University Barge Club was founded on April 25, 1854 by ten members of the freshman class of the University of Pennsylvania. George H. Waring, John W. Williams, J. Ashurst Bowie, J. Beauclerc Newman, Horace G. Browne, James H. Peabody, Alexander B. Coxe, Edmund A. Robinson, Pemberton S. Hutchinson, and Chas. I. Macouen were leaders of their class life and, later, their professions. They brought this same dedication and tireless effort to the upbuilding of the club. As a result, the early years of the club were quite successful, interrupted only by the outbreak of the Civil War.

Barge rowing was the main focus of the club in its infancy, with old log books bearing the records of hundreds of trips to all points on the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers. The upriver house enhanced the enjoyment of even short barge parties, as The Lilacs was the location for most club activity, with the boathouse at no. 7 merely serving as the launching point and storage for the equipment. The boathouse was built in 1871, in conjunction with the Philadelphia Barge Club. Each club occupied one half of the building that is now used solely by the University Barge Club. With the emergence of eights racing in the last decade of the 19th century, the Philadelphia and University Barge Clubs added matching bays in 1891 to accommodate the longer shells. A healthy rivalry existed between the two clubs, with contests dating back to 1899. A celebratory dinner usually followed the races, held either at The Lilacs, or at the Philadelphia Barge Club upriver house, The Anchorage.

Return to the University Barge Club Homepage