Oldest Boathouse 

Bernard-Hoover Boathouse / Mendota Rowing Club
Madison, Wisconsin, United States

The Bernard-Hoover Boathouse is historically significant as the last remaining building of the commercial pleasure boat and boat livery industry in Madison. The boathouse is a reminder of the time when residents of Madison were more dependent on the lakes for travel and when large pleasure boats took city residents and vacationing tourists who visited Madison on recreational outings to resorts, which once dotted the lakeshores

The boathouse is named after two former owners: Charles Bernard and Harry Hoover. Charles Bernard, born in Baden, Germany in 1824, immigrated to the United States when he was eight, and founded and operated the Bernard-Hoover business from 1855 to 1968. It was both the first and the last major commercial boating operation in Madison, and incorporated all three areas of commercial activity: livery, boat building, and steamboats, including their own pleasure park in Woodward's Grove. At their peak, they operated six large pleasure boats at a time. In 1911, the original Bernard boathouse was replaced by a spacious new building. Four years later the new structure was destroyed by fire, but it was quickly rebuilt in the same design. By 1940, the automobile had cut down substantially on the commercial boating business in Madison. William Bernard sold the boathouse, boats and docks to Berg's Sporting Company, which operated the business for three years. In 1943, the Bergs sold the property to Harry Hoover, who continued the business until 1968 when the City of Madison bought it as part of its plans to expand James Madison Park. It is currently continuing its use as a boathouse as the home of the Mendota Rowing Club.