The Buffalo Yacht Club was founded in 1861 and had 5 previous headquarters before the present location was identified at the
foot of Porter Avenue in Buffalo.
The Buffalo Yacht Club and its pier, viewed from the water, c. 1895. Image source: private collection.
The 1893 building suffered a severe fire in 1951 and was rebuilt with modifications.
The Buffalo Yacht Club purchased land from a member at Point Abino, Canada, in 1902 and established an anchorage and clubhouse there.
The September 1900 hurricane which devastated Galveston and killed 600 made itself felt a week later in Buffalo.
Buffalo Swept by a Great Storm
Wind Blew 78 Miles an Hour Early This Morning, Doing Much Damage
Fleet of Vessels Seek Refuge Under the Break Water - Docks at Crystal Beach and Point Abino Entirely Destroyed
Trees Were Blown Down, Store Fronts Wrecked, Plate Glass Smashed and Much Other Damage Done
The worst September storm in the 30 years history of the Weather Bureau and with one exception the heaviest gale that ever swept over the lower lakes passed over Buffalo during the night and the early hours of this morning, wrecking buildings on the Pan-American grounds and elsewhere, breaking electric wires from their poles, driving small craft ashore and seriously impeding the navigation of large craft, uprooting trees, tearing down awnings, smashing plate glass windows and in general playing havoc with everything that coudl be affected by a high wind...
Buffalo Evening News, September 12, 1900
For more on this history of the Buffalo Yacht Club, see the Summer 2010 issue of Western New York Heritage magazine.