Fish House Punch is an alcoholic drink consisting mainly of rum.  The first mention of Fish House Punch — though not yet by that name — may be in the notes of William Black, the secretary of the embassy of Virginia Commissioners who visited Philadelphia in 1744. He recounted being met by locals on the bank of the Schuylkill, where they were greeted “very kindly and welcomed . . . into their Province with a Bowl of fine Lemon Punch big enough to have Swimmed half a dozen of young Geese.”  The Punch is traditionally made in a large bowl also used as a baptismal font for the citizens’ infant sons; “its an ample space … would indeed admit of total immersion”, as one citizen noted.  According to legend, on a visit to the club, George Washington drank so much of the potent Fish House Punch, he subsequently couldn’t bring himself to make an entry in his diary for three days.  It was said to be Washington’s favorite.

This punch is traditionally served by the Schuylkill Fishing Company, the first angling club in the American Colonies. It was founded in 1732 and remains the oldest continuously active social club in the English-speaking world—a designation only London sources contest.  In the early 1700s, several fishing clubs existed in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, but the Schuylkill Fishing Company is the granddaddy of them all. Founded by 27 Quakers as the Colony in Schuylkill Fishing Club, it acquired land and fishing rights along the west bank of the river opposite the falls, a mile above what is modern-day Fairmount.

The Schuylkill Fishing Company is also known as the “State in Schuylkill,” a sovereign nation, separate from the Charter Colony of Pennsylvania. It was part of Penn’s treaty with the Delaware or Lenni-Lenape Indians. Among its founding members were James Logan, Philip Syng and Joseph Wharton. The club maintained a rather ambiguous claim to state sovereignty throughout its early history. In fact, Prohibition in the United States, it claimed that it was unaffected and continued to openly manufacture and drink alcoholic beverages.

Fish House Punch State of Schuylkill Club recipe        

• ½ gallon water
• 1 pound brown sugar
• 1 quart lemon juice
• 1 pint lime juice
• 4 fifths dark rum
• 2 fifths brandy (California brandy is acceptable)
• 1 pint cordial (peach brandy is traditional; triple sec or Cointreau may be used)

To “build” the punch, dissolve the sugar in water. Add the rest of the ingredients in the order listed, and let it “come together” for 3 to 4 hours.

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