The Undine Barge Club was organized by twelve Philadelphia gentlemen on May 9, 1856 to provide "...healthful exercise, relaxation from business, friendly intercourse and pleasure, having in view to this end the possession of a pleasure barge on the River Schuylkill." Named after the spirit of babbling brooks in the Legend of Undine, the club constructed a simple boathouse in a cove a few hundred yards east of the present boat house (near the site of Bachelors' Barge Club).

The first boathouse was a shed, fifty feet long, by eight feet wide, costing one hundred dollars, exclusive of foundations and slip. A four-oared barge, painted white with red trip, was purchased for eighty dollars, christened the Fawn, and first rowed on June 19, 1856.

On October 5, 1858 the Undine Barge Club and eight other rowing clubs organized the Schuylkill Navy of Philadelphia to govern and promote amateur rowing on the river. It is the oldest amateur athletic governing body in America.

Undine enjoys a rich heritage, evident from numerous trophies and photographs displayed throughout the Boathouse and its upriver clubhouse, Castle Ringstetten. The old pleasure barges are now gone, replaced by racks of high tech, light weight racing shells, as well as sturdy recreational shells for use by about two hundred Club members. Oarsmen from around the country come to Philadelphia to train and compete at Undine, home to many National, World, and Olympic champion oarsmen.

Today, Undine Barge Club is regarded as one of the finest rowing organizations in the country.