After several months of work on the bidding process and construction the Erie Yacht Club's first building was dedicated on July 18, 1895.

They got a permit from the Coast Guard "to pull yachts out" in the winter at Crystal Point on Misery Bay where the Perry Monument was later built.

The Anchorage, as the Clubhouse at the foot of Myrtle Street was known, had become too small for the club's needs, and plans were begun to replace it with something larger.

In a letter dated March 21, 1917, Root proposed to donate the land "west of the ravine and below the cliff" in Kahkwa Parkto the Erie Yacht Club.

In return, the club was to pay $5,000 towards the road work and maintain the walls and the slope of the ravine without "marring the natural beauty of the surrounding lands."

Construction was made more difficult by the breach at the neck of Presque Isle (which remained open until 1920) and the United States' declaration of war on April 6, 1917.

Plans and specifications for a three-story building "to be done in a first-class, neat and workman-like manner" were drawn up by architect Clement S. Kirby.

Kirchner Brothers submitted the winning bid for construction at $17,000, and Oscar Nick won the plumbing contract.

The season of 1919 began under difficulties, with access to the club almost barred by muddy roads, the grounds themselves a veritable mud hole, and buildings still under construction.

In spite of the open Winter and Spring, boat owners were laggard about getting their craft into the water, and the confusion and disorder of construction work made itself felt until well into the season.

But finally, buildings were finished, moorings installed, docks and piers constructed, grounds graded, drained, and seeded, driveway parking spaces paved and walks laid out.

Lights, signs, screens and a hundred other refining details followed in their place, and the club was finally in shape barely in time for the formal opening on August 22, 1919.

As long-time Club secretary and historian George O. Loesel wrote: "Prohibition reared its ugly head .

The "Roaring Twenties", replete with gambling, prostitution, rum-running (a profitable alternative enterprise) and bootlegging "bath-tub gin", had enormous impact.

Ice skating, tobogganing, quoits, ground bowling, tennis and beach golf were available to members and their families.

Winter storms ravaged Presque Isle and the bay shore, and October was to bring the stock market crash inaugurating the Great Depression.

Commodore Lawrence M. Nagle determined that the club should be saved and proceeded to purchase at his own expense all of the large planks from the Old Boston Store which was being dismantled.

It was the determined intervention of the Harbor Commission and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to save yachting in the bay, which led to the state - "at its own expense" - to deepen the channel leading to the boat cranes.

Races and regattas still went on, and social events were revived by the end of the decade as a measure of economic stability came to the club.

Gas rationing placed a particular burden on power-boat owners who could not get fuel for pleasure craft, which were deemed to be "non-essential" to the war effort.

Membership expanded dramatically, but low yearly budgets meant that improvements were minor and upgrading was piecemeal.

The gas tank was painted blue and white, a concrete foundation along with steps was added to the Clubhouse, new lamp posts, new faucets in the lavatories and telephone lines to the west dock all marked progress.

At this time, a master plan was developed for future facilities, as the club had grown beyond the size, which permitted piecemeal decisions.

Commodore William Ambro and the Bridge Officers conducted the groundbreaking ceremonies in January 1968, marking a new chapter for the Erie Yacht Club.

Following the master plan, fill was obtained and new docks were built, which increased the basin area to triple that in use previously.

The issue was a crucial one for future Club development, as the EYC had signed a fifty-year lease with the Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority in 1963.

The Long-Range Planning Committee kept the focus on the land as the "first priority" and the Bridge and Board worked to effect a solution.

Because of a lawsuit inaugurated by a member of City Council, the property closing was held up until February 9, 1987, at which time Commodore M. Roy Strausbaugh acquired the title on behalf of the EYC.

In 1992, Commodore Robert H. Allshouse and his Bridge presented a modified plan, which called for major renovations to the Clubhouse only.

As no centennial celebration would have been complete without stories of the past, an Old Timers' Night was scheduled to professionally record and preserve the oral history and traditions of the EYC.