Chartered in 1875, the St. Louis Rowing Club flourished until the mid-50's. It occupied one of nine large clubhouses that lined the Mississippi River. These facilities were complete with boat and equipment storage areas, hot showers, meeting and dining rooms and dance floors. The St. Louis Rowing Club also had a gym that was used by members and by amateur and professional boxers and wrestlers, as well as a bowling alley. In the 20's the club had as many as 800 members.

In the early years of the century, regattas were held on Creve Coeur Lake. Turn-around races were watched from a large elevated boardwalk and viewing stands on the east side of the lake. Regional championships were sponsored by the Central States Amateur Rowing Association and the Southwestern Amateur Rowing Association, then based in St. Louis. The rowing events of the 1904 Olympics were also held on the lake. St. Louis oarsman Gus Voerg won a bronze medal in the straight four event during the Olympics. By the mid-30's regattas were also being held on the Mississippi River between Poplar Street and the Eads Bridges.

At the outbreak of World War II, 35 St. Louis Rowing Club members joined the armed forces and the clubhouse was donated to the Naval Electrical School to be used as a recreational facility. In 1945, the building was returned to the club with a commendation from the Naval Department for the patriotic gesture of donating its building to the war effort.

After the war, flood control measures on the riverfront, waning interest and poor finances forced most clubs to fold. The St. Louis Rowing Club was the last to hold out, but it rowed its last race in the mid-fifties, and sold its equipment. Its Ferry Street location is now the site of a City of St. Louis floodgate.

In 1983, when several oarsmen decided to form a club, they were surprised to find that members of several of the old clubs still met socially. The original St. Louis Rowing Club members agreed to merge with the new group and rowing was reborn. Surviving members of the other clubs in St. Louis--Central Rowing Club, Century Boat Club and the Western Rowing Club--were invited to join as honorary members. Several of them have begun to row again, competing in Masters and Veterans events and coaching younger rowers as well.

Elwood Clary, the club's first president was instrumental in obtaining support from local government and businesses. Within a year the Club had purchased major equipment and obtained permission from St. Louis County to row on Creve Coeur Lake and to use an abandoned firehouse on the shore as a boathouse. By 1985, club members were competing regularly in regional and national regattas.

St. Louis hosted its first club regatta in 1987 after a hiatus of almost 40 years. The Gateway Regatta has become an annual event, attracting rowers from all over the Midwest. The Club has also sponsored a sprint regatta on the Mississippi during the VP Fair; putting rowers back on the river for the first time in thirty three years. In 1994, USRowing selected St. Louis to host the Midwest Regional Masters Championship.

High school rowing returned to St. Louis in 1990 when the club fielded the first junior crew from Clayton High. In the past five years junior rowing has blossomed. Young men and women from Clayton and DeSmet Jesuit High Schools, John Burroughs School, Mary Institute and Country Day School, and St. Joseph's Academy, wearing the century old STL emblem on their racing jerseys have captured a leading place in high school rowing competitions. Several juniors have been honored by USRowing as Academic All-Americans, one medaled in the 1993 Olympic Festival, one was invited to try out for the Junior National Team, another medaled in the 1995 Olympic Festival, and several have gone on to row on outstanding university crews.

In 1993 a disastrous flood destroyed the boathouse and much of the Club's equipment, but did nothing to dampen its enthusiasm. The Club and the Washington University Crew are now rowing out of a new boathouse located adjacent to Sailboat Cove at Creve Coeur Lake.