Cambridge Boat Club was founded by civic minded Cantabrigians who gathered to create a common resource for athletics and socializing. The club was incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on April 7th, 1909. Its declared purpose was to "encourage athletic exercises, boating and yachting and to establish and maintain a place for social meetings".

This is the era when people began to formally take notice of the importance of individuals and groups to marshall their forces, in stewardship of the nation's open spaces and recreational lands. It is the time of Teddy Roosevelt's Presidency, the establishment of many of our great national parks and the environmental movement so capably espoused by the impassioned photography of Walter Muir. Mount Auburn Cemetery and Frederick Law Olmsted's Emerald Necklace are still in their infancy.

Throughout its history, members of CBC have been outspoken advocates for not only the Charles River and its continued vitality as a recreational resource, but for rowing organizations at home and around the world.

The original site of the clubhouse was on the North bank of the Charles, near the foot of Hawthorne Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

When the club was first opened, the membership was already well over 100. In addition to a very few rowing shells, there were rowboats, many canoes and two small sailboats.

As the years passed it became obvious to all that rowing was to be the primary interest of the club. However the social activities were not to be neglected. After all this was to be a family club for all ages. As boating and social activities expanded in those early years, there were dances for adults, and on Saturday afternoons Tea Dances for the younger crowd. In the summer there was swimming and diving from the float, and in the winter skating often followed by hot chocolate.

By 1914 the membership had reached 179. During the period 1939-1945 much of the clubhouse was occupied by British War Relief and later the American Red Cross.

On February 12, 1947, the clubhouse began its move to its current location at Gerrys Landing, approximately half a mile upstream from its original site. Moving slowly on rollers along the riverbank it was finally in position in April that year and was officially reopened on November 25, 1947.

The regatta was the outcome of a meeting in 1964 between three club members, D'Arcy MacMahon, Howard McIntyre and Jack Vincent and British rowing fan Ernest Arlett. Their plan was to establish a regatta that would incorporate school, college and club rowing. The idea was modeled after England's "Head of the River" race, held in London each March. In 1965, its first year, the regatta attracted nearly 100 boats, was an instant success and has continued to flourish ever since.

In 1999 the clubhouse was further expanded to provide an accessible main entrance, accessible toilet and shower facilites on the first floor, more storage space for boats, office space, currently used by the Head of the Charles, and a library. Active member families now number 325 with a dispersed diaspora of non-resident members around the USA and spread around the world.