Crescent Boat Club is a Philadelphia rowing club at #5 Boathouse Row, 5 Kelly Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19130. Founded in 1867 and a member of the Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia since 1868, we run learn-to-row, novice sculling, and junior racing programs on the Schuylkill River. This page is the club directory: how to reach us, where the club’s rules, officers, calendar, and news live, and where to go next depending on what brought you here.
Row with us
Learn to scull, race as a junior, or join as an adult member.
Youth Rowing · Membership
Visit the Row
Getting here, parking, the fifteen boathouses, and the lights.
Visiting Boathouse Row
Hold an event
Riverfront rooms and a deck over the water, for members and the public.
Event Space Rentals
Shoot on location
Film, television, stills, editorial, and historical research.
Film and Photography
On this page: Contact · Emergency Address · Club Information Pages · Rowing with Crescent · Visiting, Events, and Media · About the Boathouse · Common Questions
Contact Crescent Boat Club
Follow Crescent: Facebook · Instagram
Crescent is run by its members rather than by full-time staff, and the club has no staffed telephone line. Every inquiry goes through an on-site form, routed by subject, so it reaches the member who handles it rather than sitting in a shared inbox.
Where We Are
Crescent Boat Club
5 Kelly Drive
Philadelphia, PA 19130
Open in Google Maps
Three different numbers attach to this building, which catches almost everyone out. Here is what each one is for.
| Number | What it is | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| #5 Boathouse Row | Our position on the Row, counting upriver from Lloyd Hall at #1 | Finding us on foot, and how rowers refer to the club. Not a postal address. |
| 5 Kelly Drive | The club’s postal address | Mail, deliveries, maps, and directions. |
| 842 Kelly Drive | The address Philadelphia dispatch recognizes | 911 and 311 only. See below. |
| What you need | Where to go |
|---|---|
| Event space rentals | Request a date · Event Space Rentals |
| Club business and officers | Club Officers and Officials · use the form for the subject closest to your question |
| Film, photography, and press | Make a media inquiry · Film and Photography Location Inquiry |
| Membership | Membership inquiry form · Membership in Crescent |
| Youth and summer programs | Youth Rowing · registration through RegattaCentral |
| Planning a visit | Visiting Boathouse Row |
Follow the club – Facebook · Instagram
Emergency and City Services Address
The boathouse mailing address and the address Philadelphia dispatch recognizes are not the same. When calling 911 or 311, give this address:
Crescent Boat Club
842 Kelly Drive
Philadelphia, PA 19130
City dispatch maps the boathouses to Kelly Drive block numbers rather than to Boathouse Row numbers. The Schuylkill Navy publishes the addresses for every boathouse on the Row: Boathouse Addresses for 911. Coaches and members should keep it posted in the bay and on the launch board.
Club Information Pages
Everything filed under Information in the main menu, and what each page holds.
- By-laws, Rules, and Safety – The club rules, the Schuylkill Navy Rules of the River, and the USRowing SafeSport policies that members and youth athletes are required to follow.
- Calendar of Events – The club calendar: regattas, meetings, work parties, and dates the event space is committed.
- Club Officers and Officials – The elected officers and appointed officials for the current term, with contacts for club business, the Schuylkill Navy delegation, and rentals.
- News and Updates – Club announcements, program news, and results from the season.
- Rowing Links – River conditions and safety, boat builders and suppliers, the clubs of Boathouse Row, the Philadelphia regatta calendar, and registration.
- Visiting Boathouse Row – Getting here, the fifteen boathouses, the Water Works and the park, and what is open to the public.
- Film and Photography Location Inquiry – Location scouting, production access, editorial photography, and historical research.
Rowing with Crescent
Crescent has rowed from #5 Boathouse Row since 1868, and we take on new rowers every season.
- Membership in Crescent – Member types, dues, boat storage, and the membership inquiry form.
- Youth Rowing – Novice, sculling development, junior racing, and U23 summer programs, with fees and registration.
- By-laws, Rules, and Safety – Required reading before anyone goes out from our dock.
- Rowing Links – Water quality, streamflow, weather, and the river schedule, all in one place.
- RegattaCentral – Program registration, membership renewal, and payments.
Visiting, Events, and Media
- Visiting Boathouse Row – The riverfront path in front of the boathouses is public, free, and open year-round. The clubhouses themselves are private.
- Event Space Rentals – Riverfront rooms and a deck over the water for weddings, parties, and meetings, for members and the public alike.
- Film and Photography Location Inquiry – Interiors, boat bays, deck, dock, and river frontage for productions and photographers.
- Club History – For researchers, writers, and members: the club from 1867 to the present.
About the Boathouse
Crescent was organized in 1867, when the Pickwick and Iona barge clubs merged, and has rowed from #5 Boathouse Row since 1868. The building standing today is largely architect Charles Balderston’s 1891 expansion, over the 1871 house designed by Davis Supplee, a Crescent member. The full account is on our History page.
- Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia – The oldest amateur athletic governing body in the United States. Crescent has been a member club since 1868.
- National Register of Historic Places – Boathouse Row was designated a National Historic Landmark on February 27, 1987, reference 87000821. Crescent’s boathouse is a contributing property within the district.
- National Historic Landmark file, National Archives – The federal nomination documents behind the designation.
Common Questions
Visiting the Row
Can I visit Boathouse Row?
Yes. The riverfront path along Kelly Drive runs in front of all fifteen boathouses and is public, free, and open year-round. The clubhouses themselves are private. Visiting Boathouse Row covers transit, parking, and what to see along the way.
Can I go inside Crescent’s boathouse?
Not on a drop-in basis. Crescent is a working boathouse with no public visiting hours, open to members, program participants, event clients, and scheduled productions. The Schuylkill Navy’s Discover Rowing Day is the annual occasion when clubs along the Row introduce the sport to the public. Otherwise, arrange access through Event Space Rentals or the Film and Photography Location Inquiry.
Where is Crescent on Boathouse Row?
We are #5, roughly the middle of the Row, at 5 Kelly Drive. Pennsylvania Barge Club at #4 sits under the same original roofline to our south, and Bachelors Barge Club is #6 to our north. Counting up from Lloyd Hall at #1, Crescent is the fourth building you pass. All fifteen are listed on Rowing Links.
When are the Boathouse Row lights on?
The boathouses are outlined in lights after dark, year-round, and the color scheme changes for holidays and civic occasions. The Fairmount Park Conservancy looks after the installation: Boathouse Row Lights. The best view is from the west bank on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, or from the Girard Avenue Bridge.
Where do I park, and can I get here by transit?
Parking along the Row is limited and time-restricted, and it fills on regatta days and event weekends. SEPTA and the seasonal PHLASH loop both stop within a short walk, and the Schuylkill River Trail runs the length of the Row for anyone arriving on foot or by bike. Options are set out on Visiting Boathouse Row.
Rowing and Membership
Do you teach beginners to row?
Yes. Our novice program takes young men and women who have never rowed and teaches the fundamentals of sculling, from handling boats to taking a single out safely on the river, and it also accepts adults looking for additional coaching. See Youth Rowing for the season’s programs, fees, and dates.
Do I need my own boat or equipment?
No. Program fees cover coaching, use of club boats and oars, and the erg room. Rowing is one of the few sports most people take up as adults or teenagers with no background in it at all, and nothing more than athletic clothes is needed to start.
How do I join the club?
Membership is open to anyone interested in rowing and in upholding the club’s founding ideals of good sportsmanship, civic fellowship, and hospitality. Members are sponsored by two existing members; student, family, social, and emeritus categories are also available. Membership in Crescent has the requirements, current dues, and the inquiry form.
Can I store my own shell at Crescent?
Yes. Members may rack a personal shell for a per-seat storage fee on top of annual dues. Current figures are on the Membership page.
Can I come and watch a regatta?
Yes, and it costs nothing. Where you stand depends on the season, because the two kinds of racing finish in two different places.
- Spring, sprint races – Crews race side by side down the 2,000-meter national course, finishing just above the Columbia Railroad Bridge. The grandstand sits on the bank at that finish line, about two miles up Kelly Drive from Boathouse Row, and it is where nearly all sprint racing is watched. This is the setting for the Stotesbury Cup, the Dad Vail, and the Schuylkill Navy Regatta.
- Autumn, head races – Boats start one at a time and race the clock over a longer course, and the finish moves down to Boathouse Row itself. The Head of the Schuylkill runs two and a half miles from above the Strawberry Mansion Bridge to the Viking Statue at the north end of the Row, so the last strokes come past our dock. The whole course is walkable in about an hour along the river path.
Kelly Drive closes to traffic on the big regatta days, and spectators park in the Fairmount Park lots above the course and take the free shuttles down. Come early, dress for the river, and expect an all-day affair.
The Schuylkill Navy publishes the full season of races and river closures on its Schuylkill River Schedule. Spectator details for the two largest events are on the Stotesbury Cup and Head of the Schuylkill sites, and the major Philadelphia regattas are listed on Rowing Links.
Events, Media, and Safety
Can I hold a wedding or party at the boathouse?
Yes. The riverfront rooms and the deck over the water are available to members and to the public. Send dates through the request form on Event Space Rentals.
Can we film or photograph at Crescent?
We work with location scouts, production managers, photographers, journalists, and historians, and we have hosted film, television, and commercial shoots on the property. Interiors, boat bays, deck, dock, and river frontage are all available. Start with the Film and Photography Location Inquiry.
Who do I tell about a collision or near miss on the river?
Report it to the Schuylkill Navy through its safety reporting system, and tell a Crescent officer. The Rules of the River set the traffic pattern, bridge arches, and right of way for every crew on this stretch of water.
What address do I give for 911?
842 Kelly Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19130 — not 5 Kelly Drive. See Emergency and City Services Address above for why the two differ.
Crescent Boat Club was organized in 1867 and has rowed from #5 Boathouse Row since 1868, the year it joined the Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia. Club history · Programs · Rowing links · Visiting Boathouse Row · Event rentals · Links reviewed August 2026.