The Detroit Boat Club was established in 1839, as a

sport rowing Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is d ...

club. It was first created on the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively refe ...

during a time in which

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

was just starting to grow. The Detroit Boat Club is a member of the

Detroit Regional Yacht-racing Association The Detroit Regional Yacht-racing Association (DRYA) was established in 1912 as the Detroit River Yachting Association by the Commodores of the Detroit Boat Club and the Detroit Yacht Club, Commodore Harry Austin and Commodore Harry Kendall, respect ...

(DRYA).

History

E. A. Brush, Alpheus S. Williams, S.H. Sibley, Alfred Brush, J.H. Farnsworth, James A. Armstrong, and John Chester were among the founding members, prominent men in Detroit's society. The first building that housed the club was at Hasting street, in an old clubhouse with one boat, the "Georgiana". In 1840, the Detroit Boat Club bought a second boat, the E.A. Brush, and began to hold two mile (3 km) races from Hog Island ( Belle Isle) and the clubhouse. It was around this time that the famous

University Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. There are separate men's a ...

between Cambridge vs. Oxford races began on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

in England. In 1848, the clubhouse burned, destroying all boats except the "Wolverine". The club was then moved to a carpentry shop, and it continued to grow. By 1873, the club was ensconced in plush quarters at the foot of

Joseph Campau Street Joseph Campau Street, also known as Joseph Campau Avenue, is a city street in Hamtramck and Detroit in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Michigan. Jos. Campau Historic District is located along the street in Hamtramck. Along Joseph Camp ...

, the easternmost end of Detroit, and had become the center of all water sports. A half-dozen new clubs formed nearby, and most displayed their sailing and rowing trophies at Bidigaire's saloon up Joseph Campau. The Biddle House on East Jefferson and the Russell House, also attracted a thirsty boating set. When its Joseph Campau lease expired in 1889, the City of Detroit invited the DBC to move to Belle Isle. The Detroit Yacht Club, which had been on the landward side of the Belle Isle Bridge, also went over to the island at that time when informed that the city needed their old site for its new bridge approach. A new clubhouse was built on Belle Isle in 1891, but was burned in 1893. Another boathouse lasted until 1901 when it also burned. In an attempt to save the structure, club member and fire commissioner Fred Moran ordered all available firefighting apparatus to the scene. Horses thundered over the old wooden bridge, dragging heavy engines and trucks behind them. The fire tug James Battle became grounded in the shallow water and remained stuck fast until the following noon. Fire equipment failed to get close enough to the burning building due to mud and the distance of the old clubhouse from the shore. Helpless, they stood and watched it burn. The next morning, club members vowed once again to rebuild their clubhouse.

In the 20th Century

On August 4, 1902, the current boathouse was dedicated. Detroit continued to grow. Horse-drawn trolleys were being replaced by electric streetcars, planked sidewalks were paved, and gas lamps were replaced by electric lights. On the river, sleek racing sculls became standard equipment, and canoeing became popular. The Detroit Boat Club became even a greater force in the social and sporting fabric of Detroit. The Detroit Boat Club 1904 Rowing

DBC legends are plentiful, but one epitomizes the club's sporting tradition. During a 1923 regatta in Detroit, two middle-aged Grand Rapids Canoe Club oarsmen issued a challenge to any pair whose total ages equaled or exceeded their own—114 years—to a match race in double sculls at a mile straightaway. DBC members W.A. (Pop) Warner, 74, and Capt. Fred Standish, 70, --144 years between them—saw the challenge on the club's bulletin board and vowed to take them on. It was a tight race until the stretch, where Warner and Standish began to pull away. They beat their younger Grand Rapids rivals by a full three lengths. In 1956, the Detroit Boat Club put seven members on the U.S. Olympic team coached by Walter Hoover, the DBC Seven brought home two silver medals. Rowers James Gardiner and Pat Costello placed second to the Russians in double sculls while identical twins

Art McKinlay Arthur Frank McKinlay (January 20, 1932 – August 10, 2009) was an American Rowing (sport), rower who competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics. He was born in Detroit and was the twin brother of John McKinlay (rower), John McKinlay; both were ...

and

John McKinlay John McKinlay (26 August 1819 – 31 December 1872)
, John Welchli John Russell Welchli (March 6, 1929 – March 23, 2018) was an American rower. He was a member of the U.S. Olympic Rowing Team at the 1956 Summer Olympics, Melbourne, Australia. Welchli rowing out of the Detroit Boat Club won a silver medal ...

and

James McIntosh James, Jamie, Jim or Jimmy McIntosh may refer to: * James Mackintosh (percussionist), Scottish percussionist and drummer * James M. McIntosh (1828–1862), Confederate Army general * James McIntosh (Medal of Honor) (1829–1908), American Medal o ...

, placed second to Canada in the four without coxswain event. The seventh member from the DBC was alternate Walter Hoover Jr. Since 1873, the DBC blue and white colors have flown at every national rowing regatta, and DBC oarsmen have won 54 events and eight national team championships. In 1960, under coach Ken Blue, DBC crews were invited for the first time to take part in the classic

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...

on the Thames River in England. A team made up of Doug Latimer, Jim Plath, Bob Walker, Bill Thorpe, Roger Taylor, Joe Callanan, Al Arbury, Mike Ernesman, and coxswain Bob Kroll placed second to Harvard in the final. Any account of DBC rowing must include Divie Duffield, the greatest oarsmen in the club's history, who came to DBC from Harvard. He won the national singles titles in 1904 and 1905 and also rowed in doubles, pairs, fours and eights that took major championships. His greatest triumph came in the 1904 Olympic singles in St. Louis. He quit rowing in 1915 and coached for the next 10 years. While rowing remained the cornerstone of the club's activities, other forms of boating became popular. Sailing arrived in 1899 and the DBC regatta is the oldest sailing race in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Few know that member commodore Dr. Charles Godwin Jennings and his schooner, Agawa, won the first Mackinac Race held in 1904. The old Belle Isle Bridge, which burned in April 1915, had a swing section which opened at midnight, preventing anyone on the island from reaching the mainline until the next morning. To be trapped on the island was tantamount to disgrace and social ostracism. All club dances ended promptly at 11:30. Long after the present bridge opened in 1923, dances at the Boat Club and Detroit Yacht Club continued to end at 11:30. In 1992 rent on the Detroit Boat Club property jumped from $1 to $100,000. Utility payments fell behind and membership continued to drop. The club filed for bankruptcy citing a $1million debt. The city announced plans to take over operation of the building. In 1996, the boat club members voted to move out of the city. "It was certainly difficult for us to come to the decision that if we were going to be economically viable we had to move", club President Larry Breskin said. "If we could have found a way to stay in Detroit, we would have." However, a strong rowing movement still exists in Detroit independent of the boat club. Former DBC rower, coach, and long time DBC rowing enthusiast Denne Osgood stated in an interview with the News, "I just don't want to see the tradition of the Detroit Boat Club go out of business. We can row as Joe Blow. It's the tradition that's important."

Current programs

Today, the Junior program is starting to grow. It is becoming a very strong team through the support of several Detroit area high schools. They have become increasingly successful in recent years. In 2005, the Detroit Boat Club had the largest presence at the USRowing Youth Invitational in Cincinnati, Ohio. They made an impact on the regatta even though they did not bring home any medals. The team consists of Girls Varsity and Boys Varsity, which make entries in both lightweight and open categories. A novice program teaches new male and female rowers. The boys' head coach, Dr. Richard H. Bell, has been coaching in Detroit for over thirty years, and has been successful in many national and international regattas. Other coaches include alumni that have competed at the collegiate level. The boys lightweight team has been taking great strides in the past several years, placing second in the Men's lightweight 4+ at the

USRowing The United States Rowing Association, commonly known as USRowing, is the national governing body for the sport of Rowing in the United States. It serves to promote the sport on all levels of competition, including the selection and training of t ...

Youth Invitational in 2004. Spring of 2005 was also a successful year for the lightweights. They had entries in the men's light 8+ and light 4+. The girls team is also very strong with respectable finishes at the Canadian Henley in both 2004 and 2005. The girls varsity 8+ looks very promising for the Detroit Boat Club. They recently won the 2005 Head of the Schuylkill regatta and look for a national championship in the spring of 2006. The boys heavyweight team has had a recent revival after a recent slump due mainly to attrition. After qualifying for the 2005 Youth Invitational, the Heavyweight 4+ placed the best out of all of Detroit's boats in 2005 with a respectable 4th place. Scullers at the Detroit Boat Club have grown in number in recent years. A new young talent has surprised the club by placing third at the

National Championships and first at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta. A 2005 entry in the Men's 2x event at the

Youth Invitational placed fifth. The team also finished strong in 2004 with an entry placing fourth in both the Women's 1x and Women's 2x races. In the spring of 2009 at the US Rowing Jr. National Championships, the Detroit Boat Club was very well represented with boats qualifying in four categories (men's 1x, men's Lightweight. 2x, women's 2x, and the women's Lightweight 8+). The women's double scull won a silver medal. Both girls were invited to a national selection camp with the opportunity to make the United States Junior World Team. One of the girls made it and represented the DBC and the US in Europe. The women's 2x followed up by winning a Gold medal at the prestigious 2009 Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston. One of the most successful programs, and biggest recruiting draw, is the summer Learn to Row program. It teaches teens and young adults from the area the basics of rowing during the summer. It is run by Brian Benz and Pete Rosberg. The program has grown in recent years and is considered highly successful by the club members. Detroit's Junior program mainly uses boats manufactured by

Vespoli Vespoli USA is a manufacturer of rowing shells. It was founded by former Georgetown University rower and Olympian Mike Vespoli in 1980. History The company’s origins date back to the late 1970s when Mike Vespoli was the freshman rowing co ...

, but house boats from several different manufacturers in each boat bay. The club has three boat bays divided into eights, fours, and sculling boats. The 8+ bay can hold ten eights and two fours, the sculling bay can hold over thirty sculling boats (singles and doubles), and the 4+ bay can hold ten fours and four singles.

Saving the club

Since the social club left Belle Isle in 1996, the historic building has fallen into disrepair. Current assessments put the needed repairs over $20 million. The club has around 200 members who pay $400 in dues a year. This pay along with few other forms of income has led to many business proposals for the renovation of the site. The property and building are currently leased for 30 years to the Detroit Boat Club Crew from the State of Michigan. There are volunteer projects to restore the boat club, as time and weather further the deterioration of the building. As of March 2022, a storage room containing oars collapsed causing extensive investigation of the integrity of the Boat House by the

Michigan Department of Natural Resources The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the agency of the state of Michigan charged with maintaining natural resources such as state parks, state forests, and recreation areas. It is governed by a director appointed by the Governor a ...

causing rowing shells to be moved from the boathouse's boat storage room to outdoor racks. All rowers and events have been forced to move all operations to the outdoor area until further notice.

References

External links