The Racquet and Tennis Club, familiarly known as the R&T, is a private social and athletic club at 370

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...

, between East 52nd and 53rd Streets 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 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

History

The Racquet Court Club opened in 1876 at 55 West 26th Street. It had two racquets courts, an indoor running track and two bowling alleys, but it did not have a tennis court. In 1890, it merged into the newly incorporated Racquet and Tennis Club, which planned to build a tennis court, moving the following year to a second, larger club house at 27 West 43rd Street (1891). This second club house had two racquets courts, one

fives Fives is an English sport believed to derive from the same origins as many racquet sports. In fives, a ball is propelled against the walls of a 3- or 4-sided special court, using a gloved or bare hand as though it were a racquet, similar to ...

court and one court tennis court. The Club moved to its third, and current, home in 1918.

Building

The R&T's current clubhouse was designed by William Symmes Richardson, a partner at

McKim, Mead, and White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), Wil ...

. The facility was built on a parcel offered for lease by a member of the club, Robert Goelet. Richardson, who had primary design responsibility for

Pennsylvania Station Pennsylvania Station (often abbreviated Penn Station) is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) to several of its grand passenger terminals. Several are still in active use by Amtrak and other transportation services; others have been ...

and the

Hotel Pennsylvania The Hotel Pennsylvania was a historic hotel at 401 Seventh Avenue (15 Penn Plaza) in Manhattan, across the street from Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden in New York City. Opened in 1919, it was once the largest hotel in the world. ...

, proposed an integrated

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

style and his firm's proposal was presented to the membership for approval in April 1916. In addition to offering its members more spacious amenities, the move to Park Avenue afforded more consistent natural light for the skylit playing courts, as well a generally more desirable location. Construction began on December 20, 1916 and was completed on September 7, 1918. The builder was Mark Edlitz, and the estimated cost was $500,000. Board of Directors at this time included financier Ogden Mills and sportsman

Harry Payne Whitney Harry Payne Whitney (April 29, 1872 – October 26, 1930) was an American businessman, thoroughbred horse breeder, and member of the prominent Whitney family. Early years Whitney was born in New York City on April 29, 1872, as the eldest son ...

. The resulting building is about 200 feet by 100 feet (30 m x 60 m) and five stories tall. The exterior is stone and brick over a structural steel frame. According to the original plans, the interior contained three dining rooms, a billiard room, library, lounge, gymnasium, swimming pool, five

squash Squash may refer to: Sports * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling * Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...

courts, two court tennis courts, and two racquets courts. Today, there are four singles squash courts, one hardball squash doubles court, one racquets court and two court tennis courts. The club's court facilities are considered among the finest in the world. The structure is representative of the ornate private clubs constructed in New York during the early twentieth century. McKim, Mead and White had previously designed the

Harvard Club of New York The Harvard Club of New York City, commonly called The Harvard Club, is a private social club located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Its membership is limited to alumni, faculty, and boardmembers of Harvard University. Incorporated in ...

, the

Century Association The Century Association is a private social, arts, and dining club in New York City, founded in 1847. Its clubhouse is located at 7 West 43rd Street near Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. It is primarily a club for men and women with distinction ...

and the

University Club of New York The University Club of New York (also known as University Club) is a private social club at 1 West 54th Street and Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Founded to celebrate the union of social duty and intellec ...

. Today, it performs an important architectural role on

as a foil to the

Seagram Building The Seagram Building is a skyscraper at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe with minor assistance from Philip Johnson, Ely Jacques Kahn, ...

, directly across the avenue, and the

Lever House Lever House is a office building at 390 Park Avenue (Manhattan), Park Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The building was designed in the International style (architecture), International Style by Gordon Bunshaft a ...

, across 53rd Street, and other corporate structures in the glass-clad vocabulary of International Modernism. The building was designated a NYC Landmark in 1979 and on July 21, 1983, the building was listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The club sold its

air rights Air rights are the property interest in the "space" above the earth's surface. Generally speaking, owning, or renting, land or a building includes the right to use and build in the space above the land without interference by others. This legal ...

on Park Avenue to the developer of the

Park Avenue Plaza Park Avenue Plaza is an office building at 55 East 52nd Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The tall, 44-story building was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) for development company Fisher Brothers and was c ...

skyscraper in 1978. The glass-clad skyscraper rises in the middle of the block, immediately behind the club.

Squash

Club members and professionals are active in squash and the R & T has hosted many national and international competitions. Members who have been U.S. Squash National Champions include Palmer Dixon, Lawrence Pool, Beekman Pool, Stephen Vehslage, Peter Briggs, Ralph Howe, John Reese, Jonathan Foster, Morris Clothier, Addison West, Whitten Morris, Michael Ferreira and Dylan Patterson. Former Head Squash Professional Ben Gould was World Squash Doubles Champion in 2009 (with Paul Price), 2011 (with Damien Mudge) and 2013 (with Damien Mudge). Club members who have been elected into the Squash Hall of Fame include William "Treddy" Ketcham, Ralph Howe and Peter Briggs. The first intercollegiate squash team match was played at the Racquet and Tennis Club on February 17, 1923. Harvard defeated Yale 4 matches to 1.

Court Tennis and Racquets

Club members and professionals have been national and world champions in both court tennis and racquets. The most famous was

Pierre Etchebaster Pierre Etchebaster (8 December 1893 – 24 March 1980) was a French real tennis player, (in French ''jeu de paume''), the original racquet sport from which the modern game of lawn tennis is descended. Life Born in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France, a Ba ...

, who was Court Tennis World Champion from 1928 to 1954. Other R & T Court Tennis World Champions include James Dear (1955-1957), Albert "Jack" Johnson (1957-1959), Northrup Knox (1959-1969), Pete Bostwick (1969-1972), Jimmy Bostwick (1972-1976) and Wayne Davies (1987-1994). R & T members who have won multiple U.S. Amateur Court Tennis Championships include Jimmy Van Alen, Ogden Phipps, Alastair Martin, Gene Scott and Morris Clothier. Club member Willie Surtees and Club professionals Neil Smith and James Dear were World Racquets Champions.

Tim Chisholm Tim Chisholm (born October 31, 1969) is a semi-retired American real tennis player. He is Racquets Director at The Tuxedo Club in Tuxedo Park, New York. Career A former lawn tennis player, Chisholm switched to the original game of tennis around ...

, Head Professional from 1999 to 2004, was World Court Tennis Doubles Champion in 2001 (with Julian Snow).

James Stout James Stout (May 6, 1914 - July 12, 1976) was an American Hall of Fame thoroughbred horse racing jockey who won four Triple Crown races. Known as "Jimmy," he began working at a racetrack as a stable boy then in 1930 became a professional jock ...

, who has been a professional at the Club since 2006, was World Racquets Champion from 2008 to 2019 and is currently Head Racquets and Squash Professional.

Backgammon

The Racquet and Tennis Club played an important role in the history of

backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia and Pe ...

: In 1931 Wheaton Vaughan, who was then chairman of the club's ''Card and Backgammon Committee'', invited representatives of selected New York City clubs and elsewhere and led the process to formulate and produce the ''Laws of Backgammon''. This set of rules is the basis of the rules according to which backgammon is played today and was published by Charles Scribner's Sons. Backgammon remains a vibrant game in the Club.

Membership

Like other single gender Manhattan clubs including the Colony (women-only), the

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

(women-only), and the Knickerbocker (men-only), the R & T has maintained its men-only membership policy. Women are welcome at the Club for social and athletic events. In 1987, the Club did not allow Evelyn David an exemption to train for the Women's Court Tennis Championship, citing its membership rules.

References

Notes Sources *

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

No. HABS NY-5466

External links

Philip Howard Photographs of the Racquet and Tennis Club
at th
New-York Historical Society
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York, state=collapsed 1876 establishments in New York (state) Sports venues completed in 1918 Athletics clubs in the United States Beaux-Arts architecture in New York City Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Clubs and societies in the United States New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan McKim, Mead & White buildings Racquets venues in the United States Real tennis venues Sports venues in Manhattan Squash venues in the United States Tennis venues in New York City Gentlemen's clubs in the United States Gentlemen's clubs in New York City Clubs and societies in Manhattan Midtown Manhattan Sports venues on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City Park Avenue Tennis clubs Backgammon