Germantown Cricket Club
The Germantown Cricket Club is a private social and sports club in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was one of the four principal cricket clubs in the city and was one of the clubs contributing members to the Philadelphian cricket team. It was founded on August 10, 1854 in what is now the northwest section of the city, and is the nation's second oldest cricket club.
Its clubhouse was designed by architects McKim, Mead & White. Nowadays the club has facilities for cricket, tennis, squash, swimming, padel, and special events. The club's facilities are a designated National Historic Landmark.
Overview
[file:Cricket match at Germantown ground.jpg|thumb|left|230px|Illustration of a cricket match at Germantown Ground, 1886]The Germantown Cricket Club was located in Nicetown from 1877 until 1890 when it moved to its present Manheim Street location after merging with the Young America Cricket Club in 1890.
The Newhall brothers joined the Germantown cricket team at this time after being the backbone of the Young America Cricket Club for forty years.
The U.S. National tennis championship, precursor to today's US Open, was played on Germantown Cricket's lawn tennis courts from 1921 to 1923.
As of 2023, Germantown Cricket Club hosts the final of the Philadelphia International Cricket Festival.
In 1902, Germantown was one of the founding members of a soccer league founded by cricket clubs in Philadelphia; the league also included Belmont, Kensington, and Frankford. The popularity of the sport also attracted other collegiate teams to the league, such as Haverford.