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Racquet Club of Philadelphia

Type	Social club
Tax ID no.	23-0998230
Headquarters	219 S. 16th Street
Location	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Website	www.rcop.com
Philadelphia Racquet Club
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The Philadelphia Racquet Club in 2010
Show map of PhiladelphiaShow map of PennsylvaniaShow map of the United States
Coordinates	39°56′55.9″N 75°10′4.74″W / 39.948861°N 75.1679833°W / 39.948861; -75.1679833
Built	1906
Architect	Horace Trumbauer
Architectural style	Colonial Revival
NRHP reference No.	79002326
Added to NRHP	August 1, 1979

The Racquet Club of Philadelphia (RCOP) is a private social club and athletic club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It has facilities for squash, real tennis, and racquets. The club is ranked in the Top 20 Athletic Clubs on the Platinum Club of America list.

History

Established in 1889, the Club started its life in a modest facility at 923 Walnut Street. Under the leadership of George D. Widener, the current 16th Street Clubhouse was built by architect Horace Trumbauer. Historian Nathaniel Burt described the new 1907 Clubhouse as "by far the best appointed...of all Philadelphia clubs." The clubhouse is one of the first reinforced concrete structures designed in Philadelphia, and also includes the world's first above grade swimming pool, designed by the noted bridge builders Roebling Construction Company. The building's red-brick, Georgian design, is evocative of historic Philadelphia, and the Clubhouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

The Club was the site of the invention of squash doubles by Frederick C. Tompkins. The new building had a space that was too large for a standard squash court but too small for further locker facilities and Tomkins recommended that it be used for squash doubles.

The RCOP's racquet sport facilities include 6 international squash singles courts, 1 squash doubles court, 1 court tennis court, and 1 racquets court. The Club also has overnight rooms along with a fitness center for the use of members and sponsored guests, as well as a bar and serves lunch daily. It is open to members 365 days a year and is located on 16th Street between Walnut and Locust in the heart of Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square area.

The Club has hosted many international court tennis, racquets, and squash doubles tournaments and has produced notable U.S. national champions including Jay Gould, Jock Soutar, Stanley Pearson and Morris Clothier.

The U.S. Squash Hall of Fame was briefly at the Club until moving to Yale University.

Champion Members

• Jock Soutar
• Jay Gould II
• Morris Clothier

See also

• List of American gentlemen's clubs

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
2. "Platinum Clubs of America® 2016". Platinum Clubs of America®. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
3. Nathaniel Burt, Perennial Philadelphians: The Anatomy of an American Aristocracy, Little, Brown and Company, 1963 (reprinted 1999), p. 268
4. History of the Sport of Doubles Archived 2010-12-18 at the Wayback Machine Squash Canada
5. Origin of Doubles Part 1 squashtalk.com
6. "Hall of Fame & Museum". U.S. Squash. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
7. "Williams and Soutar Ready for First Game of Series for Title". New York Times. April 5, 1913. ... Jock Soutar, who holds a similar position with the Philadelphia Racquet and Tennis Club ...

External links

• The Racquet Club of Philadelphia

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• 1889 establishments in Pennsylvania
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• Racquets venues in the United States
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