The Buffalo Canoe Club was founded in 1882 by William Lansing and other canoe enthusiasts. First located on Hamilton Street in Buffalo, the club moved to the excellent Bay Beach area of Ontario, near Point Abino.
The Club's first boathouse was a canal barge brought from Buffalo and sunk, laden with sand to secure it; it washed away in the great winter storm of 1907. The above structure was constructed in 1908 and connected by a wooden walkway to the beach.
The club expanded greatly into sail boating, building up a large fleet of Knockabout Class boats and later Lightning Class boats. The outer boathouse was destroyed by fire in 1989 and has been rebuilt to be architecturally similar to the 1908 boathouse. The wooden pier walkway was replaced by a permanent elevated walkway in 1919.
The Lansing House was used as boat storage. It was destroyed by fire in 1941 and the present club house was built.
As of 2007, the Buffalo Canoe Club is large and in vigorous health.