AN ANCHORAGE
One of the problems of the newly organized Club was to select a permanent anchorage.  Shelter was, of course, a prime factor. Buffalo’s Erie Basin was the obvious spot, but here they were confronted with the question of their neighbors.

Buffalo’s waterfront was the haunt of tough canalers and lake sailors. Permission was secured to use the facilities of the Union Elevator property in the lee of the Erie Basin breakwall which  enjoyed a fulltime watchman and furnished a reasonable amount of protection from vandalism. On this site in 1861, the members constructed their first small dock and raised the mast and gaff that flew the Club Burgee.

There is a peculiar absence of data until the next several years—the Civil War consumed the members’ energy and attention—and the BYC must have functioned periodically at best.

But a nucleus of members held together, and before long they were again making records of races, meetings and plans for a real clubhouse.

CLUBHOUSE ONE
The first Clubhouse was built in 1864 on the Erie Basin breakwall—presently the site of the Erie Basin Marina.  The building was on piles with the porch on what, at that time, was the outer breakwall—no doubt one of the breeziest locations on the waterfront.  Boats were moored behind the breakwall which was flanked by piers running at right angles to the  wall.  Races were sailed on the lake and river in full view of observers sitting on the big front porch, fully protected from storm and rain.
During daylight, the members got to the Clubhouse by walking through Canal Street.  At night, this might have been a hazardous journey, so upon arriving at the waterfront the members would call out, “Hey Bill!”  This would produce Bill Swisher who lived in a houseboat moored in the lee of the breakwall.  He would scull over in a square ended punt and ferry the member to the Clubhouse—in the very early days for a fee of one cent, later five cents.  Swisher reportedly lived to a very great age and during most of his life acted as ferryman for this trip.

SUBSEQUENT CLUBHOUSES
The first Clubhouse was somehow destroyed during the fall.  And because of the lawlessness of the area and the increase of harbor traffic at this time, it was decided to change the location of the Club.  A new site was chosen adjacent to the car ferry landing on the Bird Island breakwall approximately at the foot of what would be Vermont Street if extended to the water—about where the navigational light tower is now, north of the present clubhouse.

On August 7, 1878, fire destroyed the Clubhouse  completely.  With the fire went all records, gear and some spirit. 
Under the leadership of John S. Provoost in 1879, membership grew from about 24 to 75. Regattas were sailed among the members, and both the Cleveland and Toledo Yacht Clubs were invited to participate in a Grand Union Regatta. The Squadron consisted of fifteen yachts, each owned by or leased to a member or members. Most of the yachts had two or more members listed as “owners or lessees.”

On April 4, 1880 it was decided to incorporate the Club and issue stock for a new clubhouse. In short order plans and specifications were drawn and contractors were on the job. The third clubhouse was constructed on the Erie Basin breakwall at the site of the original clubhouse.  It opened in August 1880 with a rousing good party. With a brand new building, a fleet of 16 yachts, and a membership of 75, the Club seemed to be bowling along on the high tide of prosperity.
Within the next few years, however, the Club underwent hard times and dissention, eventually seeing its clubhouse towed away by the sherrif for non-payment of debts.

A FOURTH CLUBHOUSE
The upturn was marked in 1886 with the election of Harry D. Williams as Commodore.

Many races were reported held during the summer, the most successful of these on the Fourth of July.  Yachtsmen from various clubs on Lake Erie participated, and a large banquet celebrated the event in the Tifft House that evening. 

A building committee was appointed in 1887, and plans for Clubhouse Four were drawn up for construction. A site had been obtained from the State of New York at the foot of Porter Avenue, and consisted of the lands under water from the north line of Porter Avenue to the south line of Connecticut Street extended.  The foundation for the clubhouse would consist of wooden piles driven some distance from the shoreline and connected by a long dock. The new Clubhouse was opened in the spring of 1888, with Harry D. Williams again leading the Club.

The Club now boasted 127 members, its fleet consisting of two cabin sloops, one open schooner, three open sloops, three cabin cutters, one cabin schooner, one open yawl, two naphtha launches, one steam launch and some unclassified types which made a total of 20 boats in all.

On the night of January 9, 1889, Buffalo experienced one of the worst gales which ever swept over Lake Erie.  The water rose ten feet above normal and the waves were mountainous.The morning of January 10th presented a bleak picture to those who struggled down to the beach against the still howling gale.  The first floor of the  new clubhouse and all four walls of the second floor had been entirely swept away, leaving nothing but a skeleton standing on the piles. Nothing was saved from the wreck; most of it went down the river and over Niagara Falls—furniture, the contents of lockers, spars, sails, gear.

The members tried vainly to obtain a site on shore, but upon failing decided to rebuild the clubhouse on its old foundations.  This decision was based on the word of the “oldest inhabitant” that such a storm could not possibly happen again.

But it did, just a year and four days later.  On January 13th, 1890, another blow exceeding in violence, if possible, that of the year before tore out the entire lower structure of the clubhouse a second time!

In 1891 Frank B. Hower was elected Commodore. Hower went to work restoring the Club’s finances to a firm footing.  The elements treated the BYC kindly in 1891 and inflicted no  damage whatever on the clubhouse that winter.  Optimism returned, and a janitor was installed in charge of the house—a luxury heretofore not indulged in.  Following a successful season with many regattas sailed, Commodore Hower was reelected for 1892.

A FINAL CLUBHOUSE
In 1892 there was a noticeable shift away from participation in regattas in favor of a growing feminine influence within the Club.  Accent was on short cruises and spins around the harbor and down the river with the ladies usually present. “Ladies Day” became a regular feature instead of an occasional special one.  And the old, patched clubhouse began to appear inadequate for the gala social events coming into vogue.

At the annual meeting of 1893 a committee was established to formulate plans for a new clubhouse. Architect H. L. Campbell proceeded to draw plans for a clubhouse which would feature shower baths, ladies’ rooms, lounges, billiard room, manager’s office, cafe, a large dance floor, locker room and sail loft with an estimated cost of $10,000.  The building which emerged—Clubhouse Five—is the same building we now occupy, albeit modified following the 1951 fire.

The site of the new clubhouse was east of the old clubhouse and in what is now the southeast corner of the basin.  The clubhouse was set on piles in the same manner as the earlier clubhouses. The City of Buffalo agreed to build a new pier at the foot of Porter Avenue to which the Club would have access, and thus save them the expense of building one.

Buffalo Yacht Club’s new clubhouse made an impressive addition to the waterfront, and the Council and Parks Commissioners were delighted with such a magnificent structure.  So pleased were they that they promised a great deal of assistance and assured the Club that no other buildings would be erected near the Club to spoil its location.

The “Gay Nineties” were in full swing and interest in yachting had developed to an extent hitherto unknown in the world. There were 24 yachts in the fleet, together with two naphtha launches and two steam yachts.

THE “Z” CRUISE OF THE CLUBHOUSE
Members were greatly surprised when the clubhouse was moved, because instead of being moved along the shore it was set due east, almost to the railroad tracks.  This had a very depressing effect on the membership, since yachtsmen felt their clubhouse must be at the water’s edge at least.

After much negotiation, the City finally drove pilings in front of the wall at about the location of the present bridge to the outer wall of the basin. The clubhouse then set its course northwest and moved to this location.

Meanwhile, the City Council in going over its records had found that it was obligated to the BYC for the relinquishment of the State grant to the City, in addition to the several verbal agreements previously made.

In 1923, the Club secured a 30-year lease from the City for the present grounds.   The lease further provided for the construction by the City of the docks, bridge, and marine railway.  Our present facilities are thus the result of the Club’s having released to the City its New York State grant.  It was at this time that the Club, in completion of its last leg of its “Z” course, came to rest in its present location.  The final move came, quite obviously, as the result of the building of the present docks.