Crescent Boat Club is a member-run rowing club at #5 Boathouse Row, 5 Kelly Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19130. We were organized in 1867, and we have been a member of the Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia since 1868. Because the club has never moved, we have rowed from the same stretch of the Schuylkill River ever since. Members train here and juniors learn to scull here, while the club room and the deck over the water are also open for weddings, parties, and productions.
Row with us
We take beginners as well as experienced scullers, so start at Membership or Youth Rowing.
Hold an event
A club room for up to 140 guests, as well as a deck over the water, at Event Space Rentals.
Visit the Row
Everything a visitor needs, including parking and the lights, is in Visiting Boathouse Row.
Shoot on location
Film and television, as well as stills, editorial, and research, at Film and Photography.
A Boathouse Row Club Since 1867
The Pickwick and Iona barge clubs merged in 1867, and as a result Crescent was organized that year. Under a charter from the City of Philadelphia we then built our first boathouse below Lemon Hill, completing it in 1868 and sharing the structure with the Pennsylvania Barge Club. The club grew quickly, so the house was enlarged in 1871 to a design by member Davis Supplee. Although later work covered much of that, the building standing on the Row today is largely architect Charles Balderston’s 1891 revision of it.
Since then the club has rowed through floods, two world wars, and the long decline and revival of the river. Keeping a Victorian boathouse standing takes constant work, so members and our caretaker have spent recent seasons stripping decades of paint back off the interior woodwork. The full account, including archival photographs, is on our History page.
Rowing at Crescent
Membership is open to anyone interested in rowing, as well as in upholding our founding ideals of good sportsmanship, civic fellowship, and hospitality. Experience is not a requirement, so we welcome scullers and sweep rowers at every level, from a first outing through masters racing. Members also keep boats in the bays and train from our own dock. Membership carries the categories, the dues, and the inquiry form, so start there.
Beginners are especially well served in summer, when the club coaches novice, sculling development, junior racing, and under-23 crews on the Schuylkill. Youth Rowing carries this season’s offerings, fees, and registration, while Programs lists everything the club runs across the year. Crescent junior quads have won gold at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta, and Crescent scullers have since gone on to row for the United States at the under-23 level.
The boathouse is also home to two resident crews: the women’s rowing team of Thomas Jefferson University, our resident collegiate crew since 2021, and Harriton High School Crew. Everyone launching from #5 rows under the same traffic pattern and safety rules, so those are set out in full in By-laws, Rules & Safety.
Events, Weddings, and Film on the River
Our riverfront rooms and deck are open to members as well as to the public, for weddings, receptions, parties, and meetings. The club room is air conditioned and seats up to 140, while the deck sits directly above the water with Fairmount Park behind it. Because the rowing calendar fills early, send your date through the request form on Event Space Rentals as soon as you have one. That page also answers what it costs, who caters, and how the bar works.
Location scouts, production managers, photographers, and journalists, on the other hand, should start at Film and Photography Location Inquiry. That page covers the interiors, the boat bays, the deck and dock, and the sightlines, as well as access, load-in, and Fairmount Park permitting.
Visiting Boathouse Row
Boathouse Row is a National Historic Landmark made up of fifteen nineteenth-century clubhouses along Kelly Drive, including ours. Once the sun goes down, the houses are outlined in lights, with the Fairmount Water Works and the Center City skyline downriver. Meanwhile, the riverfront path in front of them stays public, free, and open year-round. The clubhouses themselves, however, are private working buildings rather than museums.
We wrote Visiting Boathouse Row from inside one of them, so it covers how to get here by transit, bike, or car, where to park, what each of the fifteen houses is, and when the lights come on. For river conditions, flow limits, water quality, and regatta schedules, see Rowing Links instead.
Quick Answers
Can anyone join Crescent Boat Club?
Yes, and you do not need to have rowed before, because we run coached programs right through the season. Membership sets out the categories and the dues, and the inquiry form sits at the foot of that page.
Can I go inside the boathouse?
Not on a drop-in basis, since Crescent is a working boathouse rather than a museum and keeps no public visiting hours. Members, program participants, event clients, and booked productions come and go throughout the day, so access is always arranged in advance. The path in front of the Row, meanwhile, stays public and free year-round.
Can I rent the boathouse for a wedding or a party?
Yes, although the rowing calendar means dates are limited. You do not have to be a member, and the club room seats up to 140, while the deck opens directly onto the river. Because dates go quickly, send yours through the request form on Event Space Rentals.
Do you teach beginners and juniors to row?
Yes, especially in summer. Our programs run from first-time novice sculling through junior racing and under-23 crews, so a beginner and a national-level athlete often train from the same dock. Youth Rowing carries the details, the fees, and the registration, as well as the season calendar.
More questions, including parking, the lights, dock access, the 911 address, safety, and media requests, are answered on our Information page.
Where to Go Next
I want to row
Membership and junior programs, as well as the rules everyone rows under.
Membership
All Programs
Youth Rowing
By-laws, Rules & Safety
River Conditions & Rowing Links
I’m planning an event
Weddings, parties, and meetings, as well as film shoots and photography.
Event Space Rentals
Film & Photography
Calendar of Events
Information & Contact
I’m just visiting
The Row, the lights, and the river, as well as the club’s own history.
Visiting Boathouse Row
Club History
Club Officers & Officials
News & Updates
Contact Crescent
Because the club is run by its members rather than by staff, every inquiry goes through the form on the page that matches it. That way it reaches the officers responsible for that part of the club, instead of sitting in a general inbox.
- Membership and rowing – Use the inquiry form on Membership, since it goes to the officers who handle new members.
- Junior and summer programs – Apply through Youth Rowing, since applications and payments for every program are handled on RegattaCentral.
- Weddings, parties, and meetings – Send your date through the request form on Event Space Rentals, including any flexibility you have.
- Film, photography, and press – Start at Film and Photography Location Inquiry, which lists what we need to know before we can answer.
- Address – Crescent Boat Club, #5 Boathouse Row, 5 Kelly Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19130.
- Emergencies – Philadelphia dispatch knows this building as 842 Kelly Drive, so give that address, not #5, when calling 911 or 311. Why the addresses differ.
Directions and parking, as well as the club’s own pages and answers to common questions, are all on our Information page.