A Short History of Princeton's Rowing Facilities

by Richard Ottesen Prentke '67

Princeton rowing alumni and friends have been responsible not only for boats, oars, equipment and other support for the Princeton rowing program since its inception in 1872 but also for the boathouse and the lake itself.

INTRODUCTION: Butler and the Idea of Lake Carnegie

Howard Russell Butler 1876

Howard Russell Butler 1876 played a pivotal role in the re-establishment of Princeton rowing in the early years of the 20th century.

Butler was the coxswain of the 1874 Princeton crew and a Renaissance man. He was an assistant in Princeton's Department of Physics, a New York patent lawyer and executive, a painter of celestial phenomena, and a portrait and landscape painter. From 1906 through 1912, he was responsible for assembling the 400+ acres that comprise Lake Carnegie, the lake on the Princeton campus that is the home of Princeton rowing. His firsthand story is reproduced here.

[Continue...]
Howard Russell Butler 1876
From the Howard Russell Butler, Jr.
1920 Collection

[PAGE 1: Intro] [PAGE 2:1800's] [PAGE 3: S.E.Club] [PAGE 4:Carnegie/Wilson] [PAGE 5: Syndicate] [PAGE 6: Class of 1887] [PAGE 7: 1913 Season] [Page 8: Butler Award]

Related Articles: [Butler Papers] [PAW: 04/30/1913] [PAW: 05/14/1913] [PAW: 05/28/1913]


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