Weld Boathouse is a

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

-owned building on the bank of the

Charles River The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly me ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. The current structure was designed by Peabody and Stearns and is named for George Walker Weld, who donated the funds for its construction.

History

Weld Boathouse is the second of two boathouses built at this location along the Charles River near Harvard by George Walker Weld. The first was built in 1889. The second, current structure was built in 1906–1907 to a design by Peabody and Stearns with funds that Weld bequeathed for that purpose. The construction cost $100,000. Although previously used for Harvard men's freshmen crew team, Weld Boathouse is currently the home of the heavyweight and lightweight crews of Harvard's varsity women's rowing. These programs retain the title of Radcliffe Women's Crew, a reminder of the phased merger of

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

into Harvard University during the latter part of the 20th century. Additionally, Weld Boathouse is home to Harvard's recreational

sculling Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, its ...

program and the House Crews of Harvard College's twelve residential colleges. Graduate rowing programs also use Weld. Harvard men's rowing uses Newell Boathouse on the Boston side of the river. The boathouse is situated at the halfway point of the Head of the Charles Regatta. Until recent decades, rowing and sculling used finely crafted wooden boats. In that tradition, Weld was home to the hand-carving of a traditional baidarka of the type used by

Aleut Aleuts ( ; (west) or (east) ) are the Indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleuts and the islands are politically divided between the US state of Alaska ...

ian hunters.

Anderson Memorial Bridge

Next to the boathouse is the

Anderson Memorial Bridge Anderson Memorial Bridge (commonly but incorrectly called Larz Anderson Bridge) connects Allston, Massachusetts, Allston, a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge. The bridge stands on the site ...

built in 1913 by Weld's niece

Isabel Weld Perkins Isabel Anderson (March 29, 1876 – November 3, 1948), , was a Boston heiress, author, and society hostess who left a legacy to the public that includes a park and two museums. Life Early life Born at 284 Marlborough Street in Boston's B ...

and her husband

Larz Anderson Larz Anderson (August 15, 1866 – April 13, 1937) was an American diplomat and ''bon vivant''. He served as second secretary at the United States Legation to the Court of St James's, London; as first secretary and later ''chargé d'affaires ...

. This bridge was designed with "a high enough arch to admit the passage of all sorts of pleasure craft." Both the Weld Boathouse and the Anderson Memorial Bridge were funded by heirs to the fortune of 19th century magnate William Fletcher Weld.

Gallery

File:Weld Boathouse 1.jpg, Front view with first-floor plan File:Weld Boathouse 2.jpg, Front view with second-floor plan File:Weld Boathouse, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.jpg, alt= File:Weld Boathouse - Harvard University - DSC02972.JPG, alt= File:WeldBoathouse.JPG, alt=

References

Other sources

''Harvard Crimson'' 2/4/1981 "Blaze Burns Weld Boathouse, Causes Little Serious Damage" by Paul Jefferson and Thomas J. Meyer
* ttp://www.jphs.org/people/2005/4/14/weld-family.html Jamaica Plain Historical Society, "The Weld Family"br>Project Gutenberg, ''Book of Annals and Reminiscences of Jamaica Plain'' by Harriet Manning Whitcomb

External links