New York City’s historic private clubs are a vestige of an older world. While the rise of newer, hipper clubs like Norwood and Neue House reflects a desire to expand the vocabulary of what a private club consists of, these historic institutions maintain a sense of intrigue and sophistication. At Untapped New York, we’ve been to many of these clubs for varying reasons—for events, for meetings, and as members. Here’s what we’ve discovered about some of the oldest and most notable private clubs!
1. The Union Club (1836)
The Union Club is the oldest private club in New York City (but not the oldest in America). The grande dame of the private clubs, the Union Club is now located in a landmarked building designed by Delano & Aldrich on 69th Street and Park Avenue, after two moves from downtown. Not surprisingly, the Union Club is known for its conservative slant and its policies were the reasons for the founding of rival clubs, The Knickerbocker and the Metropolitan Club later. The club is still in operation and counts Dwight D. Eisenhower, Winston Churchill, Ulysses S. Grant, and William Randolph Hearst among its notable members.
The Union Club has a website (unlike the Knickerbocker) but it’s for members only. Guests (and potential guests) can read about club rules and dress code (like no use or display of cell phones in common areas) here.
2. The Century Association (1847)
The Century Association was founded in 1847, evolving from the Sketch Club, a group of artists and writers, The Column, and the Bread and Cheese Club, founded by James Fenimoore Cooper. The club met in various different locations before settling into a clubhouse at 7 West 43rd Street in 1891. (Note: This is our second home, our first was at 109 East 15th Street from 1857 to 1891). The clubhouse, where the Association is still housed today, is a five-story Palazzo-style building designed by the illustrious firm of McKim, Mead, and White.
Today, the club’s membership is made up of two thousand authors, artists, and amateurs of letters and fine arts. To qualify as “amateurs,” individuals may be “of any occupation provided their breadth of interest and qualities of mind and imagination make them sympathetic, stimulating, and congenial companions in a society of authors and artists.” Famous members have included William Cullen Bryant, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Calvert Vaux, Carrère and Hastings, Frederick Law Olmsted, and McKim, Mead & White, among eight former Presidents of the United States (including Theodore and Franklin Delano Roosevelt), 10 Supreme Court Justices, Nobel Prize laureates, and members of the Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Roosevelt, and Astor families. I’d drop the big families! That’s not the big Century preoccupation. The list is a little architect heavy — If you want to diversify we have also counted Winslow Homer, Rudyard Kipling, Kitty Carlise Hart, Kurt Vonnegut, Ralph Ellison, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Benny Goodman, Dr. Suess, Brook Astor, Thornton Wilder, Edward R. Murrow, Henry James, and Aaron Copland as members.
3. The Harmonie Club (1852)
The Harmonie Club, founded in 1852, is the second oldest private club in New York City. Originally called “Gesellschaft,” it was created by a group of six German New Yorkers after they were denied admittance to the Union Club. The membership base of the Harmonie Club is made of men and women who are prominent leaders in the worlds of business and finance, law, science, medicine, arts, and all walks of life.
The gorgeous Beaux Arts building that houses this club was designed by noted architect Stanford White in 1905. It was the second clubhouse. While a basement bowling alley and upper-floor bedrooms have been removed, the building still retains the original dining room designed by Stanford White, as well as other impressive Club facilities.
4. The Downtown Association
The Downtown Association at 60 Pine Street is a member-owned social club started in 1859. Its clubhouse was designed by member and architect Charles C. Haight and completed in 1887. Another member/architect was commissioned to create an addition in 1911, Charles Wetmore, one of the designers of Grand Central Terminal. The Romanesque Revival building is the second oldest purpose-built club building in the United States.
Famous members hail mostly from the legal and financial professions. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Grover Cleveland, Thomas E. Dewey, and a handful of Attorneys General, one Secretary of Defense, two Secretaries of War, and ambassadors to foreign lands have all held memberships.
5. The University Club (1861)
The University Club, founded in 1861, forms an imposing corner along Fifth Avenue. Built when this Fifth Avenue stretch was filled with Gilded Age private mansions, it now forms a contrast with the luxury stores in its midst. The high windows prevent much peeking in but you may notice the smell of chlorine from the pool inside while walking by.
Fifth Ave Gilded Age Mansions Tour
Admire the extant facades of Millionaire's Row and see stunning images of the opulent homes that have been lost while hearing about the scandalous goings-on inside.
The first meeting of the University Club took place in 1861 at Columbia Law School, and the club’s charter was formed in 1865. Its first building was located at 26th Street and Madison Avenue. The Fifth Avenue club was built in 1899 by famed architects McKim, Mead and White. and the interiors, which include a grand ballroom and library, are beyond opulent. The University Club, unlike what its name may seem to imply, is not affiliated with the clubs of universities but the stately Harvard Club and Yale Club were both built in this same decade.
One of the tricks of the private club search is to stay as an overnight guest. The University Club has guest rooms on upper levels available for overnight stays.
6. The Union League Club (1863)
The Union League Club on East 37th Street in Murray Hill dates back to the Civil War. It was founded by Pro-Union New Yorkers to foster support for the Union and promote ideas of citizenship and anti-corruption. At that time, similair “Union Leagues” popped up across the country in cities like Philadelphia and Chicago. In addition to its aid in raising funds for the Union army, the club also helped fund cultural endeavors such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grant’s Tomb, and the construction of the Statue of Liberty.
The Union League Club moved to Murray Hill in 1931, after leaving clubhouses in Union Square and Madison Square Park. Their current home was designed by Benjamin Wistar Morris, who also designed the Cunard Building. Fifteen U.S. presidents have been members of the Union League Club including Theodore Roosevelt, Chester A. Arthur, and Herbert Hoover. Other notable members include J.P. Morgan, J.D. Rockefeller, and more recently Sandra Day O’Connor, Neil Armstrong, and Margaret Thatcher.
7. Harvard Club (1865)
The Harvard Club of New York was founded in by a small group of alumni in 1865. For the first few decades, they met at Delmonico’s and other rented spaces around the city. The club’s Midtown location was built in 1894.
Esteemed architect Charles McKim of McKim, Mead & White, who was a club member himself, designed the original wing at 27 West 44th Street as a gift. The clubhouse has been added to and renovated multiple times throughout the years. With its neo-Georgian facade of brick and classical columns, and the large Harvard flag hanging out front, the building is pretty hard to miss. In 1966, the clubhouse became one of New York City’s first designated landmarks.
8. New York Athletic Club (1868)
The New York Athletic Club was formed to bring order and regulation to the world of sports. Shortly after it was founded, the Club organized the first US championships in boxing, swimming, wrestling, and track & field, bringing standardized measurements and official record-keeping to those sports.
There are two locations for the club, one in Manhattan at 180 Central Park South, and another in Travers Island, in Westchester County. The Manhattan clubhouse, completed in 1930, boasts a wide variety of athletic facilities, from a swimming pool and basketball courts to a yoga studio and dojo for practicing Judo. In addition to the sports facilities, the clubhouse has bars, restaurants, banquet facilities, and overnight guest rooms.
9. The Lambs (1869)
The Lambs is America’s first professional theatrical club. It is named after the English essayist and poet Charles Lambs (1774-1839) who, along with his sister Mary, would frequently host dining salons where creative friends could discuss the arts. After Lambs’ death, a group of English actors and his sister founded a club and named it in his honor.
Today, the club also functions as a historical society and houses fun, unique knick knacks such as speakeasy cards from the Prohibition-era, actors’ railroad tickets from when they would travel to perform, and a fan favorite of the Lambs: a ferocious portrait of the cowardly lion, Bert Lahr, as a clown! Its clubhouse at 3 West Club is shared with the Women’s National Republican Club. Check out photos from Untapped New York’s visit to the Lambs and interview with historian Kevin Fitzpatrick here.
10. The Lotos Club (1870)
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