Potomac Boat Club Collection Digitized

The Potomac Boat Club Photograph Collection now online documents competitive and social events at the Georgetown rowing club from its 1869 founding through the late-20th century.  The collection, donated to the George Peabody Room Collection at Georgetown Neighborhood Library by the club in 2015, has been was digitized in its entirety.  It is now available in Dig DC, DC Public Library's repository for digital archival collections.

The collection is composed primarily of photographs that include images of winning crew teams, practices and races on the Potomac River, celebrations such as annual oyster roasts, and images of the club’s two boathouses on the Georgetown waterfront (at 3141 and 3550 Water Street NW), as well as and a set of early 20th century architectural drawings of its current location. Also included are a selection of panoramic photographs of attendees at the club's annual social gatherings. Notable events documented in the collection include the burning of Dempsey's Boathouse in 1961, a 1936 flood of the Georgetown waterfront, and the sinking of the "Recreation" at the Club's annual regatta on August 14, 1904, which resulted in 10 deaths.

Much of the collection is in the public domain and can be freely used by the public.