The Duluth Boat Club was founded in 1886. The club not only offered rowing, sailing, canoeing, swimming, tennis and other sports, but it also hosted lavish banquets, festivals and dances. But the sports were only one aspect of the Boat Club. With 1,400 members at its peak, the club played a huge social role in Duluth at that time.

But the club began to decline in the years leading up to the Great Depression. The Boat Club dissolved in 1926 and lay dormant until rowers resurrected it on a much more modest scale in 1956 as the Duluth Rowing Club. During these past forty-four years, the Duluth Rowing Club has kept the sport alive through their hard work and determination. The club has seen a resurgence in the past few years in their youth programs. Because of their member's volunteer mentoring and dedication, the youth program has really blossomed.

The Duluth Rowing Club members began a grass roots effort to build a $2.5 million facility at 15th Street and St. Louis Avenue. In order to do this they sought the help of other organizations in the area to help. The result was the formation of the Duluth Boat Club. Under the umbrella of this new organization, the clubs will combine efforts to build the new building. The new facility will be youth-oriented, handicapped-accessible, and affordable, setting it apart from the exclusive Duluth Boat Club of the 1900s.