wellwood yacht club charlestown md

The Wellwood Club

Full-Service Restaurant; Seafood, Crabs, Steak, Chicken and More!

410-287-6666

History of the wellwood club.

In the Late 1800’s, The Wellwood Club was originally a private Hunting and Fishing Club that was established as “An organization of optimists and humanitarians in the broadest sense. Its purpose is to promote the ‘happy’ habit; to reduce the friction of life to a minimum and increase the pleasure of existence to the maximum; to discourage strife and promote good fellowship.” The second floor of The Wellwood holds rooms named for States that had sent letters to the Club, requesting that a room be named after their state so that their representative would have a place to call ‘home’.

Later, The Wellwood became a private Country & Yacht Club, which included a 9-hole golf course, a duck pond, gardens, swimming pool and a 3-story dormitory building. Past members and visitors to The Wellwood included many past politicians and businessmen (local and national) that included Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Joseph Cannon. The wooden eagle picture on this page was part of a hand carved bar that was said to have been donated to The Wellwood by President Roosevelt.

The Metz family acquired the Wellwood in 1958. We believe in using only choice meats, fresh seafood and fresh produce in preparing a quality meal for you and your guests. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. We look forward to working with you to make your event and dining experience memorable!

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523 Water Street Charlestown, Maryland 21914

Call 410-287-6666 for reservations.

The Wellwood

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Popular dishes

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Fried Chicken

Crab Bisque Soup

Oysters Rockefeller

Steamed Crabs

Crab Imperial

Maryland Blue Crabs

Shrimp Tacos

Broiled Seafood Combo

Lobster Tail

Steamed Shrimp

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Highlights from the Business

71 years in business

Family-owned & operated

Discounts available

Walk-ins welcome

Free parking

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523 Water St

Charlestown, MD 21914

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Owned by the Metz family for over 50 years, The Wellwood offers our guests two unique settings. The Historic Wellwood is a beautiful water view venue that delivers elegant dining for weeknights, weekends, special occasions, and more. We offer: an outdoor brick patio with live music. (in season) fireside seating. (in season) casual & comfortable pub seating in our Club Room. private dining rooms for corporate events and social occasions. a wedding venue like no other. At the Historic Wellwood, we host bridal and baby showers, class and family reunions, business meetings and banquets, holiday gatherings, bar and bat mitzvahs, retirement and anniversary parties, and more. No matter what celebration brings you together, let our dedicated staff make it an experience you'll remember. Don't miss The River Shack, which has been cheerfully described as the 'ideal hidden local spot' and a 'crab hunter's dream come true'. …

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Missy was great and took care of us well. Spent a few minutes to go over the history of the restaurant including the president who had visited and where some of the decor accents came from. I enjoyed the Oysters Rockefeller, a family recipe; it had a lot of bacon if one loves bacon, a hare too much for my palate. The crab cakes rival the best I have had so far, lots of lump crab meat. The bananas Wellwood was a bit interesting of a dessert, was not a fan of the cereal on the bottom but a lighter dessert. Would like to try the creme brûlée next time.

See all photos from Stephanie P. for The Wellwood

Jul 23, 2024

Stephanie, thank you for your kind words and detailed review! We're delighted to hear that Missy provided such an engaging experience for you. We're glad you enjoyed the Oysters Rockefeller and the crab cakes, and we appreciate your feedback on the Bananas Wellwood. We look forward to welcoming you back soon!

Food entrees were very good. Our waiter was also very good! But we were charged for very small Container of lemon dill aioli $1.25. Also the Hawaiian Delight cake portion was barely enough for one @ $10.00. Since this our 55th Wedding Anniversary I expected more on $111.84 bill.

Cake and aioli!

This place is one of my favorite hidden gems! Nestled away in southern Cecil County just pass Perryville lies a culinary oasis. The items pictured in my review are from their special Valentine Day menu. Everything was divine! I've been there two years running on V-Day and I plan to make it 3. Outside of Valentine day you can't go wrong with their everyday menu as well, a few of my faves are the crabs, fried chicken, cornbread and the waffle fries. If you're feeling froggy try The River Shack next door that (their spin off restaurant). I'm a huge fan and I decided today I would no longer keep this goodness to myself, I had to share with my trusted community! The servers are always on point and aim to please!

Jun 11, 2024

Brandon, thank you so much for your wonderful review! We're thrilled to hear that you consider us one of your favorite hidden gems and that you enjoyed our special Valentine’s Day menu. We’re delighted to know our everyday dishes are also among your favorites. Your kind words about our service and your recommendation of The River Shack mean a lot to us. We look forward to welcoming you back!

Met up with some old friends for lunch today. We all had quite the drive, some coming from as far as Philadelphia. When I tell you we had a great time and enjoyed the food. We started with the crab bisque, crab soup for and calamari. They were absolutely delicious. I had a 1/2 dozen of large crabs and fries! Yum!!! The only thing that was missing was corn on the cob. But understandably so, it's not corn season yet. I'll be back in the near future!! By the way, our waiter Haydyn was the absolute best. Very polite and very helpful when it came to choosing our meals. We are looking forward to our next lunch date!!

See all photos from Lyndell W. for The Wellwood

May 7, 2024

Lyndell, thank you so much for joining us for lunch and for taking the time to share your experience! We're thrilled to hear that you and your friends had a fantastic time and enjoyed our food. We're delighted that Haydyn provided excellent service, and we can't wait to welcome you all back for another enjoyable lunch date soon! See you then!

Appreciated this restaurant accommodating our large (9) party on a Saturday night. The waitstaff was attentive and checked in often. The food was prepared in a timely manner and everything was cooked really well. The fries and calamari were crisp, the order of hushpuppies was generous and FREAKING DELICIOUS. My rockfish Oscar style was tender which I was impressed at because rockfish often gets dry. The shrimp tacos were dressed in a delightful sauce with a respectable kick. Definitely recommend!

Mar 20, 2024

Rebecca, thank you so much for your glowing review! We're thrilled to hear that you enjoyed your experience at our restaurant. Accommodating large parties on busy nights is something we take pride in, and it's wonderful to know that our waitstaff provided attentive service throughout your meal. Your recommendation means the world to us, and we look forward to welcoming you back soon for another enjoyable dining experience!

So my girlfriend and I were in the mood for local seafood. We decided to go here. We started off with a mussels appetizer. It wasn't bad, but the mussels themselves were tiny, but the sauce they were in was good. For a main dish I opted for the jumbo stuffed shrimp with crab stuffing. For 36$ they gave me a whole 4 shrimp (see pictures). The shrimp were good, but the stuffing was very bad. Not pictured were the sides. One was a sad salad and the other was overcooked, mushy brocolli. My girlfriend opted for the broiled seafood platter. This ran about 45$. For the extra 10$ she received a better meal and much better portion which included shrimp, crab cake, lobster tail and scallops. I really questioned my decision in paying 1

First time visiting this restaurant on the advice of friends, and it was on point! The food was terrific and the service spot on by Todd. We had the calamari and crab dip for starters and delicious meals pictured below. Although this was a 40 minute drive, we will definitely return here!

Apr 30, 2024

Mark, thank you so much for the 5 star review! We're thrilled to hear that you enjoyed your dining experience with us. We truly appreciate you making the drive to dine with us and look forward to welcoming you back soon!

Listen !!! This place had it all! Big restaurant right on the water with a casual side for all-you-can-eat crab crackin' and a more formal side for any other dining. It's Feb. so I don't think we have seen even a fraction of what this spot has to offer... can't wait to come back. Service was soooo good... especially Rose! wondering about the food? I had what is now my favorite crab cake in MD and their legendary fried chicken is legit. Oh and I loved the coleslaw (more on the sweet side than the vinegar-y side).

Legendary Fried Chicken

My favorite crab cake in MD

Wow, thank you Nikole for such an enthusiastic review! We're thrilled that you enjoyed your experience at our restaurant. We can't wait to welcome you back to explore even more of what we have to offer!

This one of my favorite places to eat. The food is always delicious and the service is impeccable. I couldn't ask for a better atmosphere and place is always clean from the dining room to the bathrooms.

Feb 13, 2024

Steven, thank you for the positive feedback! We're thrilled to hear that you enjoy dining with us! Your kind words mean a lot, and we look forward to serving you again soon.

We went here to celebrate my friends birthday, it was a great space for group dining. We opted for seated on the casual side of the restaurant , this is where they serve hardshell steamed crabs. We love crabs so we were pretty excited . We started off with a drinks , there was nothing memorable about any of the drinks. We ordered quite a few appetizers. I was super excited about the highly rated oyster Rockefeller ... it was tasty but not the best I've had. The hushpuppies were delicious, the salad was okay, most everyone enjoyed the cheesesteak egg rolls , fried chicken and fried calamari and the croissants the server placed on the table were absolutely delicious No one ordered the all you can eat crabs , that's an option for about $60 per person. Most people in our party ordered a half dozen of medium or large crabs . The crabs were heavily seasoned ( I like that) they were heavy and cooked perfectly. I could only finish two but I was able to take my leftovers home because I hadn't ordered the all you can eat . I would definitely come back. The food was tasty, we didn't feel rushed and I liked that the servers worked together to make sure the guests were checked on. Gosh darn I went back and now I have to change my rating I will start by saying the server was phenomenal ... I believe her name was Alexis or Alexa . Beautiful bright and bubbly .. we loved her We (it was two of us) unfortunately decided to try the all you can eat option this time. This was a disaster, everything was skimped on. They started us off with 3 pieces of fried lukewarm chicken, 4 hushpuppies, 2 ears of corn, fries and 8 small crabs. I hate small crabs, once we removed the claws there was nothing to most of the crabs . I guess I've been spoiled at other all you can eat crab venues where you don't have ask for anything, when the servers see the quantities are low they replace it . At the Wellwood if you asked for more crabs , they gave us 4 crabs . If you asked for more hushpuppies , they gave us 4 hushpuppies ... you get the point. I've also never been charged for butter and / or garlic butter. If you would like butter I think it's $1.50 and garlic butter is $3.50 and it's in the small condiment containers. All in all I was disappointed with the all you can eat option but I'll know ( and you will too) to never to order this option again. Ok I went back today, Bria , our server, was phenomenal. I ordered 6 large crabs a' la carte, with a side of hush puppies and corn. Everything was cooked to perfection . This will be my go to order.

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MARYLAND'S CHARLES TOWN, 1742 AND BEYOND, A PICTURAL TOUR OF ITS HISTORY by GERARD "ROD" WITTSTADT, JR, ESQUIRE

Part 2: The Gunning Clubs of Charlestown

Gerard William Wittstadt, Jr., Esquire (c) 2024

• Chapter 5: The Wellwood Club

The Gunning Clubs of Charlestown

Located on Lot 10 in Charlestown, the Wellwood Club was originally a private hunting and fishing club called "Ye Olde Homestead." Its founders, who had unofficial ties to the Republican Party of Philadelphia, had honorable intentions, establishing one of the finest gunning clubs in the United States as "an organization of optimists and humanitarians in the broadest sense. Its purpose is to promote the happy' habit; to reduce the friction of life to a minimum and increase the pleasure of existence to the maximum; to discourage strife and promote good fellowship."

(This circa 1912 photograph of the Wellwood before renovation.)

In the 1920s the club undertook the renovation of the original building, by adding a second floor and expanding the building to the rear to accommodate its expanding membership roles and eventual transformation to a private country club.

The Wellwood's members included businessmen and members of Philadelphia society, two of whom were Louis H. Eisenlohr (1860-1922) and Louis P. White, who on September 29, 1917, hosted a "Barbeque-Southern Style."

Mr. Eisenlohr was a regular at the Wellwood. He was a member of the Free Masons in Philadelphia, who in 1918 authored the book Memories from Philadelphia to Charlestown, Maryland via Nome , from which these two pages are copied. Mr. Eisenlohr began a cigar manufacturing business with his two brothers, Otto and Charles, in their native Philadelphia. Their product was the Cinco cigar. Over time, the company grew from a small room with six employees to twenty-one factories employing five hundred people, and in 1900 was the second-largest cigar manufacturing company in the country.

Louis Eisenlohr was always interested in the welfare of young people, most especially those who wanted to attend college. After his death, the Eisenlohr estate gave a significant gift to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania to build a home for girls at Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. Today, there are two buildings at the Elizabethtown Masonic Village bearing his name. He was one of the most prominent yachtsmen on the Atlantic Coast and died on his yacht in 1922.

In the mid 1920s, the Wellwood Club became the Wellwood Country and Yacht Club, which included a nine-hole golf course, a duck pond, a swimming pool, and a three-story dormitory building called the "Cuba Inn" or "Cabana Inn."

On the second floor of the clubhouse are rooms named for each state that sent a letter to the club requesting that a room be named after that state so its representative would have a place to call home.

Fortunately, the Wellwood retains a circa 1950 photograph collection of the interior of the property, displayed here courtesy of its current owner, Larry Metz.

Members and distinguished guests of the Wellwood were greeted with a sign over the main entrance proclaiming "Who Crosseth This Threshold Is At Home." The grand entrance contains marble columns and moldings.

A lavish parlor with a large fireplace provided members and guests with a warm, relaxing room to discuss the day's hunt. Above the fireplace is a plaque that reads "This fire will warm your body, it will not warm your heart."

A formal dining room with white linen tablecloths was where members supped on fresh fish and Canvasback ducks, expected and delivered every night of the week.

For less formal times, the club contained a bar, where, for a long period of time, no women were allowed. The members of the Wellwood often used the bar area to play cards and canasta.

(The photograph above is but one of two formal dinning rooms at the Wellwood, and the photograph, left, shows the back bar.)

During its heyday as a world-class gunning club, the Wellwood hosted presidents, governors, and members of Congress on a regular basis. The club's popularity grew to such an extent that the renovations of the 1920s included the addition of the "Cuba Inn." Also known as the "Cabana Inn," the building served as a boardinghouse for out-of-town members and guests. Behind the inn were extra sleeping quarters. During the 1920s, a Model T bus was kept in the garage of the back building that was used to pick up and drop off gunners at the Charlestown rail station.

In addition to hosting the "sports" from neighboring Philadelphia and Baltimore, the Wellwood also played host to a major sporting event. On May 5, 1863, the Heavyweight Championship of America was fought at the Wellwood. Prizefights were illegal in those days; unable to secure a site in New York or Philadelphia, promoters took a train to Charlestown, where they set up a ring behind the club. Fans, including the mayor of New York, traveled by rail to watch "Street Fighting Man" Joe Colburn (1835-1890), pictured left, fight "Deck Hand Champion" Mike McCoole (1837-1886). Colburn, described as "an intelligent, crafty battler [who] was quick and agile; his footwork was good and he hit with two fast hands," was 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighed in at about 190 pounds. McCoole was 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighed in at about 200 pounds, and was described as "big and strong, but slow and clumsy." It was a bare-knuckle fight that lasted an extraordinarily long time, one hour and ten minutes, and went sixty-seven rounds. A round in those days was a knockdown. In the end, Colburn knocked out McCoole to become the Fifth Heavyweight Campion of America, also known as the "American Bare-Knuckle Champion." This fight is the only known major sporting event to take place in Charlestown in its 263-year history.

Charlestown, however, certainly has had its visits by distinguished personalities throughout its history. Presidents, governors, and members of Congress have stayed at the Wellwood. President Grover Cleveland, who often hunted the Susquehanna Flats, occasionally stayed at the Wellwood, and Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Theodore Roosevelt are also included on the club's guest lists. President Roosevelt made a gift of this carved wooden eagle on one such stay.

One of the most sporting of all the presidents was Grover Cleveland. President Cleveland enjoyed gunning for Canvasbacks on the Susquehanna Flats and the North East River, and stayed at the Wellwood while he was President. Although little is know about these hunting trips, it is known that the then President gunned over a special set of decoys made by an unknown carver on the North East River. Many speculate that the unknown carver was Charlestown resident, John B. Graham, but that has never been conclusively established. These decoys have become some of the most famous group of birds, called the "Cleveland Canvasbacks."

(Photograph, left, Grover Cleveland's last hunting trip, 1907. Photograph by Underwood and Underwood, courtesy of NJ Div. Of Parks and Forestry, State Park Service, Grover Cleveland Birthplace State Historic Site.)

The "Cleveland Canvasback" first gained notoriety in Joel Barber's pioneering book on the art of decoys, Wildfowl Decoys , published in 1934 by Windward House, Inc. Mr. Barber was so impressed with this one bird that he had collected near Charlestown in Aiken, Cecil County, that he dedicated a full color plate, drawn by him, depicting the bird, shown right.

Apparently not just full size Canvasbacks were made, but so were Canvasback wingducks, as there are only two (2) known examples to exist. Additionally, the Cleveland rig contained Redheads.

(Cleveland Canvasback, drake and hen, unknown carver, Charlestown, Maryland, circa 1880.)

(Cleveland Canvasback, hen sleeper, unknown carver, Severin Hall repaint. Below wing duck.)

The images and content of this site are copyrighted 2024 by the author. Unauthorized duplication of the images or text is strictly prohibited without express written permission of the author.

Search the Site

• Introduction and Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1: 1742: The Founding of Charles Town
• Chapter 2: Charles Town and the American Revolution
• Chapter 3: Historic Charles Town Properties
• Chapter 4: Miscellaneous Properties and Unique Places
• Chapter 6: The Eagle Point Gun Club
• Chapter 7: The Seneca Point Club
• Chapter 8: Green Bank
• Chapter 9: John B. Graham
• Chapter 10: W. Scott Jackson
• Chapter 11: W. Will Heverin
• Chapter 12: George Washington Barnes
• Chapter 13: Carroll Cleveland Algard
• Chapter 14: Gone But Not Forgotten
• Chapter 15: The William Graham Family
• Chapter 16: The Issue of Col. Nathan Ramsey
• Decoy Showcase