On 16 July 1874, ten men met at the St. James Restaurant in Winnipeg to organize a club where city leaders could meet and relax.

This building burned down in February 1875 when Winnipeg’s first steam fire engine, on its inaugural run, failed to get there in time.

[3] Dignitaries who have visited the club include Mark Twain, General William Tecumseh Sherman, Princes of Monaco, Jordan and Iran, every Canadian Prime Minister through the 1940s, the British High Commissioner and many others.

Sir Hugh John Macdonald, the son of Canada's first Prime Minister, served as President of the Manitoba Club from 1896 to 1899—shortly before the construction of its current location.

[8] In 2017, the Club made plans to add a Cigar Room on the top floor.