The Manhattan Athletic Club was an athletic club in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York City. The club was founded on November 7, 1877, and legally incorporated on April 1, 1878. Its emblem was a "cherry diamond". It established an athletic cinder ash track at Eighth Avenue between West 56th and 57th Streets in the

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the eas ...

neighborhood of

, which opened in 1878. In 1883, it secured grounds at the block between Eighth Avenue and Ninth Avenue, between West 86th and 87th Streets on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

. In November 1886, it secured a clubhouse at 594 Fifth Avenue in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

. The club established a new clubhouse at the southeast corner of Madison Avenue and East 45th Street in Midtown in 1890, with one of the largest gymnasiums in the world, at . Through 1917, boxing matches were hosted at the club. American runner and world record holder

Lon Myers Laurence Eugene "Lon" Myers (February 16, 1858 – February 16, 1899) was an American sprinter and middle distance runner. Myers won 28 national championships. He also set world records at 11 different distances, and held every American record ...

was a notable member of the club. Other notable members included

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

Joe Donoghue, runner

Thomas Conneff Thomas Conneff (ca. 1866–1910) was an amateur Irish runner who held the amateur record for the fastest mile (4:) from 1895 to 1911. Thomas "Tommy" Conneff was born in Kilmurray, Clane Co. Kildare on the 10th of December 1867 to James and Marcel ...

, and

Elliott Fitch Shepard Elliott Fitch Shepard (July 25, 1833 – March 24, 1893) was a New York lawyer, banker, and owner of the '' Mail and Express'' newspaper, as well as a founder and president of the New York State Bar Association. Shepard was married to Marg ...

. In the late 1800s, the Manhattan Athletic Club assisted in creating the Amateur Association. Past members, George W Carr and Walter Storm were elected presidents (1879 and 1887) of the

National Association of Amateur Athletes of America National Association of Amateur Athletes of America (NAAA) (1879 to 1888) was formed in 1879. This was the organized body for the Amateur Athletes before the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) took over in 1888. NAAA History NAAA formation After t ...

(NAAA) (1879 to 1888). Later, the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

was formed in 1888. In 1893, with significant debts, its directors decided to dissolve the club.

Andrew Freedman Andrew Freedman (September 1, 1860 – December 4, 1915) was an American businessman who is primarily remembered as the owner of the New York Giants professional baseball team of the National League from 1895 to 1902. He also briefly owned the ...

became receiver of the Manhattan Athletic Club when it fell into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...

. A new Manhattan Athletic Club was opened the following year.

References

External links

"The Manhattan Athletic Club"
''Outing'', June 1890 {{DEFAULTSORT:Manhattan Athletic Club Athletics clubs in the United States Clubs and societies in the United States Multi-sport clubs in the United States Sports in Manhattan Sports clubs established in 1877 Athletic Club football teams and seasons 1877 establishments in New York (state)