South River Club
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South River Club | |
 South River Club, July 2009 | |
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| Nearest city | South River, Maryland |
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| Coordinates | 38°54′21″N 76°33′51″W / 38.90583°N 76.56417°WCoordinates: 38°54′21″N 76°33′51″W / 38.90583°N 76.56417°W |
| Area | 0 acres (0 ha) |
| Built | 1742 |
| NRHP Reference # | 69000067[1] |
| Added to NRHP | May 15, 1969 |
South River Club refers to both a social club and more recently, the historic building at South River, Anne Arundel County, Maryland where the club met.
The club
The South River Club (also known as "The Old South River Club")[2] survives today as one of the oldest, continuously active organizations of its type in America. There is evidence that the club itself existed in 1732 and perhaps as early as 1700.[3] The date of its founding remains unknown because the early records were lost when the first clubhouse burned down.[2] Club records show that it existed before February 11, 1742 when a resolution was passed to attempt to record all previous members names.[2] As early as 1746, the club was referred to as "The Ancient South River Club" in the Maryland Gazette.[2]
The early members included prominent landowners, merchants, and the local doctor and clergyman, all of whom lived within a 10-mile radius of the clubhouse.[3]
The members of the club meet at the clubhouse four times per year for feasts prepared in the detached kitchen.[4] Women are only allowed in the clubhouse on "Pilgrimage Days."[4]
The clubhouse
It is not clear where the first clubhouse stood.[2] There is some speculation that it was in Londontowne, Maryland, but sufficient doubt remains.[2]
Built in 1742, on land purchased from Captain Thomas Gassaway, son of Colonel Nicholas Gassaway,[5] the present structure is a small frame, 1 1⁄2-story one-room clubhouse with a gable roof and a narrow exterior chimney on the east gable end.[3][4] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969.[1]
See also
List of traditional gentlemen's clubs in the United States
References
- 1 2 Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Richardson, Hester Dorsey (1913). Side-lights on Maryland History: With Sketches of Early Maryland Families. Baltimore, Maryland: Williams and Wilkins Company. pp. 197–204.
- 1 2 3 Mrs. Preston Parish (May 1969). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: South River Club" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
- 1 2 3 Historic American Buildings Survey, /Historic American Engineering Record. HABS No. MD-843. Washington, DC: Historic American Buildings Survey, National Park Service. p. 2.
- ↑ Warfield, Joshua Dorsey, The founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland, Kohn & Pollack, Baltimore, MD 1905, P.199
External links
- South River Club, Anne Arundel County, including photo from 1967, at Maryland Historical Trust
- South River Club, Solomons Island Road (State Route 2) vicinity, South River vicinity, Anne Arundel, MD at the Historic American Buildings Survey
- Pitts, Jonathan. "Old South River Club has met for more than 320 years," The Baltimore Sun, Saturday, September 22, 2012.
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