The Metropolitan Club
One East Sixtieth Street
New York, New York 10022

On the evening of February 20, 1891, a group of distinguished gentlemen, prominent in the civic, commercial, financial, and social life of the city, gathered together for an important purpose at the invitation of William Watts Sherman at the Knickerbocker Club - then at 319 Fifth Avenue, the northeast corner of 32nd. Street. At the dinner were present Messrs. Samual D. Babcock, George S. Bowdoin, Robert Goelet, George G. Haven, Adrian lselin, William Watts Sherman, H.A.C. Tylor, William K. Vanderbilt and William C. Whitney.

After dinner they were joined by Messrs. John L. Cadwalader, Charles Lanier, Cornelius Vanderbilt, James M. Waterbury, and proxies were on hand from Messrs. Ogden Goelet, Louis L. Lorillard, J. Pierpont Morgan, James A. Roosevelt and Frank K. Sturgis. A meeting ensued at which the Articles of Affiliation were signed and the first officers duly elected, and The Metropolitan Club was formed - with J. Pierpont Morgan becoming the first President.

Following the meeting, so swiftly did the organization work that only a month later, on March 25, 1891, the membership had been secured and the financing of a great clubhouse completed. The original land was bought through the contribution of $5,000 by each of the twenty five original governors.