A Brief History of the Harlem Yacht Club
The ‘Old’ Harlem Yacht Club
By Evelyn Schneider
The original clubhouse on our City Island site.
The original Harlem Yacht Club dates back to around 1855 when it was organized as the Harlem Model Yacht Club. Its clubhouse was at the foot of 125th St. and the East River. It had long been assumed that the Harlem Model Yacht Club was so named because its members sailed model sailboats. A recently discovered article in the New York Times (then called the New York Daily Times) has put this theory to rest. The article, dated July 20, 1855, reads:
“Yachting is becoming a favorite amusement among us.... The beautiful rivers that surround it and its spacious Bay, give New York unrivaled opportunities for boat racing. We have and can build here the swiftest yachts in the world, and can boast two or three very fine yacht clubs.... Another Club on a popular basis was started at Harlem some months [ago], under the title of the 'Harlem Model Yacht Club.' The word 'model,' as here used, we will state for the benefit of those ignorant of such matters, is intended to denote that the boats used by the club are not strictly yachts, but merely 'models' for such. It is composed at present of 52 members, many of whom are old and skillful sailors, and have a fleet of eight yachts, of which Henry P. McGowan is its Commodore, and Thomas Graham Vice Commodore."
The club was from the very beginning an active yacht-racing enterprise, as the article goes on to say:
"...The first regatta of this Club was announced to come off on Wednesday last.... The members of the Club had a steamer waiting at Harlem Bridge for the reception of the invited guests, who comprised some hundred and fifty persons, including an array of very handsome ladies.... Although the day was beautifully fine, still it was not propitious for boat racing, for, at the time of starting, there was hardly a breath of air...Shortly ...the very slight breeze...entirely died away...and the contest had to be postponed until yesterday at 12 o'clock.... On Thursday, according to postponement, the yachts were all in readiness for another start...on the same terms.... At the close of the regular regatta, a private scrub race took place between the Louisa Jane, Gipsey, Olivia, Frolic, and a boat belonging to Coney Island known as the Katydid.... The people of Harlem, both male and female, manifest much interest in the success of their Yacht Club, which will no doubt soon assume a deserved distinction."
That the club was indeed begun in the year 1855 is further confirmed by a later Times article. On May 6, 1872, a listing of unredeemed pledges at a pawnbrokers’ establishment appears. Among the descriptions of the various items was this:
“The gold medal examined was a very fine one and engraved as follows: 'First Prize, Harlem Model Yacht Club, fourth annual regatta, taken by yacht Electric Spark, Commodore J. E. Ebeling, owner, June 15, 1858’ reverse, Neptune, with inscription, Harlem Model Yacht Club, 1858."
In a Times article dated, July 28, 1856, the Electric Spark was described as being 27’6” in length -- no mere model by our standards.
Our current clubhouse as it appeared when it was first built.
The first reference to the club as the Harlem Yacht Club appears in 1861 when a sloop is launched, “the Onkahye (dancing feather) of about forty-five tons burthen…. She will belong to the Harlem Yacht Club.” In 1869, the club was sailing regattas regularly; and it filed for incorporation under the laws of the State of New York as the Harlem Yacht Club. In 1872, it was described as attaining some prominence, and in that year acquired a new clubhouse “at the mouth of the Kills.” An article the following year described their new grounds in greater detail:
“They now have a fine clubhouse at Stony Point, Port Morris.... attached to the clubhouse is about 30 acres of ground, which are laid out for base-ball ground and for athletic sports.... The opening regatta will be early in June.... A Fall Regatta is also held in September. The fleet consists of seventeen sloop yachts. (New York Times, April 5, 1873)
That same year a successful regatta was held to Matinecock with Captain Samuel Samuels and E. B. White officiating. Captain Samuel Samuels was a highly revered elder member, who had been the captain of a famous packet clipper named the Dreadnought. The Dreadnought with Capt. Samuels at her helm had sailed record voyages between Liverpool and New York. On one voyage, in 1862, she had sailed an extreme northern route from Liverpool “coasting along Greenland, Newfoundland, Long Island, [and] passed a large iceberg” to thus avoid the Rebel privateer Alabama which “had taken a fancy to her” and she arrived with her cargo and all her passengers safe after a “very boisterous passage of 24 days.”
Alas, on September 6, 1873, the single line appeared in the Times “Commodore Edgar Williams has resigned from the Harlem Yacht Club,” and no further mention of the club appears after that date. According to the 1896 regatta book, which we unearthed at the club a few months ago, the ‘old Harlem Yacht Club’ ceased to exist at that time. We have not found any compelling evidence to the contrary.
It was around ten years later, in 1883 that the present Harlem Yacht Club came into being.
