History
Origin of the Rochester Canoe Club
The formation of RCC in 1881-82 was at the leading edge of the first canoe craze in America, and opened a new opportunity for the rising middle class to participate in a water sport that could be as relaxing as a river cruise or as exciting as the fastest sailboat racing in the world. At the start of the club, canoeists had dual interests in cruising and racing, and either could be done by paddling or sailing. Some races were a combination of paddling and sailing. Eventually, only sailing survived at the Canoe Club without canoes, but its historic name remains in what is now Rochester's oldest continuous sailing club.
George Harris, manager of the Reynolds Arcade, had the idea for a canoe club in 1881, and recruited Morley Turpin, a student in the Arcade, but it took a year to get seven members and a constitution. Membership then doubled each year till it reached its early limit of fifty, and after that other canoe clubs formed to meet the demand. Harris was influenced by prior contact with Indian tribes and their canoes, but more importantly by his residence from 1872-75 at Peterborough, Canada, near Rice Lake, a center of canoe activity.
Canoe construction had evolved from the dugout to the birchbark to the planked canoe, and was about to take the next step to the smooth strip canoe. The sailing canoe was also evolving from a square rig to lateen sails on the open Canadian type canoe to a twin mast, centerboard, decked-over racing machine with a sliding hiking seat that extended outboard. Both paddle and sail racing canoes were popular first in England and Canada, and were included when the American Canoe Association was formed in 1880, and rapidly spread in the northeast. Prior to that, rowing was the most popular competitive water sport and was highly organized in Rochester with many clubs on the upper river and also at Charlotte. Local yacht racing was not well organized until the present Rochester Yacht Club started in 1886.
In the late 1880's a new competitive canoe cost about $150-200, and $300 rigged for sailing, when a factory metal worker in Rochester made $625 yearly. This was very expensive for the factory worker, but not for the shop owners, professionals, other business types, and sons of prosperous families who were interested. This was the golden age of great economic growth and no income tax until the financial panic and depression of 1893.
On Sept. 29, 1882 the club adopted its first constitution which included such diverse interests as exploration, historical research, camping, paddling, sailing, racing, and foot-journeys. It would be repealed in 6 months, but the club was now official and these officers were elected:
Frank F. Andrews and James Somerville became members on Nov. 7, 1882 for a total of seven. Harris, 39, was manager of the Arcade and writer of western N.Y. and Indian history. Turpin, 18, was a student, then taught math at the Mechanics Institute and was on the city engineering staff for 39 years. Angle, 36, was a lawyer, then librarian of Powers law library, and wrote the humorous "Cruise of the Huff" about the club's mythical voyage around the world. Dumble was a photographer. Storms, 21, was employed in his father's merchant tailor shop, and became captain of ocean vessels sailing in southern waters. Andrews, 29,, was employed by the Post and Paine drug companies for over 30 years after being a merchant seaman. Somerville, 33, was an engraver, then artist in the Arcade and founder of the Rochester Art Club. All of them worked within a block of the arcade, and held their meetings in Harris's office there.
The club's first cruise took place Wednesday through Saturday Oct. 18-21, 1882, in two canoes owned by Harris and Storms. Turpin and John Walton (a later member) went along. The canoes were shipped by rail and wagon, and the trip was a combination of paddling on Silver Lake, hiking in Letchworth Park, and a 60 mile paddle on the Genesee back to Rochester via the canal feeder and acqueduct to Exchange St. A 51 page manuscript of this trip (by Harris) exists and was published in five parts in the Herald. At the close of 1882, the club decided to attend next year's big ACA regatta at Stony Lake near Peterborough, to which they were invited by Commodore Edwards of that city. The Canoe Club was on its way to a long history.
Leo Balandis, RCC Historian, August 5, 1995
