Schuylkill Fishing Company
Schuylkill Fishing Company logo
|
|
 `
|
|
| Formation | 1732 |
|---|---|
| Type | Private NGO |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 40°3′43.57″N 74°57′59.35″W / 40.0621028°N 74.9664861°WCoordinates: 40°3′43.57″N 74°57′59.35″W / 40.0621028°N 74.9664861°W |
|
Formerly called
|
Colony in Schuylkill |
The Schuylkill Fishing Company of Pennsylvania, also known as the State in Schuylkill, was the first angling club in the American Colonies and remains the oldest continuously operating social club in the English-speaking world.
The club was established in 1732 as the Colony in Schuylkill under a treaty with the chiefs of the Lenni-Lenape (Delaware) Indians. Officers of the club assumed governmental titles: governor, lieutenant governor, three councilors, sheriff, coroner, secretary. Among its 28 founding members were James Logan, Philip Syng, and Joseph Wharton; the first Governor was Thomas Stretch (born Staffordshire, England, 1695), who held the office for 34 years. Other early members included Thomas Wharton Jr., Tench Francis, Jr., William Bradford, Samuel Nicholas, Clement Biddle, William Bingham, Mayor Anthony Morris, Thomas Mifflin, and Samuel Morris, second governor for 46 years. In 1737, membership was limited to twenty-five. After the American Revolution, in 1782, the club changed its name to "State in Schuylkill", but retained its rules and organization.
The club claims to be the oldest in the world. The Beefsteak Club of London antedates it, but was suspended for a while.
In 1747, the members decided to build a clubhouse, dubbed The Castle, at the foot of the Schuylkill River falls near Fairmount, now part of Philadelphia. It used some of the nearby walnut trees for timber.
...
Wikipedia