Newell Boathouse, named for a popular Harvard athlete killed just a few years after graduation, is the primary

boathouse A boathouse (or a boat house) is a building especially designed for the storage of boats, normally smaller craft for sports or leisure use. describing the facilities These are typically located on open water, such as on a river. Often the boats ...

used by

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

's varsity men's rowing teams. It stands on land subject to an unusual

peppercorn lease In legal parlance, a peppercorn is a metaphor for a very small cash payment or other nominal consideration, used to satisfy the requirements for the creation of a legal contract. It is featured in ''Chappell & Co Ltd v Nestle Co Ltd'' (960AC 87), ...

agreement between Harvard and the

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

History

Called "the elder statesman among

Charles River The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...

boathouses", Newell Boathouse is named for 1894

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

graduate

Marshall Newell Marshall "Ma" Newell (April 2, 1871 – December 24, 1897) was an American football player and coach, "beloved by all those who knew him" and nicknamed "Ma" for the guidance he gave younger athletes. After his sudden and early death, Harvard Unive ...

, a varsity rower and All-American football player in all four of his undergraduate years, "beloved by all those who knew him" and nicknamed "Ma" for the guidance he gave younger athletes. After Newell was killed in 1897 while working as an official of the

Boston and Albany Railroad The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail, and CSX Transportation. The line is currently used by CSX for freight. Pass ...

, $2,000 was raised for a boathouse in his memory. Built in 1900 on the south side of the Charles to a design by

Peabody and Stearns Peabody & Stearns was a premier architectural firm in the Eastern United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the firm consisted of Robert Swain Peabody (1845–1917) and John Goddard Stearns J ...

(architect Robert Peabody having been rowing captain as a Harvard undergraduate), Newell Boathouse is constructed of concrete, with a slate facade and roof. It was Harvard's first permanent boathouse, replacing a series of wooden boathouses in the area. In addition to storage for

racing shell In watercraft, a racing shell (also referred to as just a ''fine boat'' (UK) or just ''shell'') is an extremely narrow, and often comparatively long, rowing boat specifically designed for racing or exercise. It is outfitted with long oars, outrigg ...

s, the building provides locker rooms, meeting and training rooms, and rowing tanks and other practice equipment. Architectural historian Bainbridge Bunting wrote that its "complex profile... closely resembling that of Carey Cage reflected in the Charles in the early morning, has made it a landmark on the river."

Site lease

The "prime riverfront space" upon which Newell Boathouse stands belongs to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In addition to having given the Commonwealth forty-six acres of land downriver, Harvard pays $1 per year for the right to maintain a boathouse on the site, under a lease running one thousand years, at the end of which time Harvard has the option to renew the lease for a further thousand yearsan example of a

amounting to "virtual freehold."

References

{{coord, 42.3697, -71.1258, type:landmark_region:US-MA, display=title Cultural infrastructure completed in 1900 Culture of Boston Landmarks in Cambridge, Massachusetts Harvard University buildings Harvard Crimson College rowing venues in the United States

History

Site lease

See also

References