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.