Since 1898
The oldest boat club
on the Ohio.
Founded at the foot of Vance Street in 1898 and never once out of operation. A nonprofit club, run by the people who tie up here.
What sets us apart
A club, not a business.
A nonprofit club, not a for-profit marina. Members do the work, so the cost stays honest.
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A nonprofit, not a marina
A nonprofit club, not a for-profit marina. No owner takes a margin, and dues cover the harbor and nothing else.
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A working membership
Members do the building and repair themselves — the way they built the club boat by hand in 1962.
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Built for high water
Rigged for it. Through the flood of 1937 and every rise since, the club minutes barely mention it.
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Directly on the river
Not a cut or a backwater. Passing barges, evening breeze, and the sunsets off a west-facing bend.
Since 1898
Ice, floods, and 128 years.
The oldest continuously operated private harbor on the Ohio. The club boat has sunk twice and been rebuilt by hand.
“Fifty captains and few crew can create some marvelous things.”
In the 1920s a 40-footer moored here for $3.00 a month. In 1949 the rate doubled — to two cents per foot, per day.
- 1898Founded at the foot of Vance Street by a handful of gasoline-launch owners.
- 1899Strong currents force a move a mile upstream to Worth Street.
- 1903Incorporated on July 17 as the Ohio River Launch Club.
- 1908Regattas here draw national magazine coverage.
- 1918Ice carries the club boat downstream and sinks it.
- 1920The club buys the land at Strader Street — still home today.
- 1962Members build the present club boat's superstructure by hand.
- 1964New locks raise the river 12 feet, adding a second row of floats.
- 1997Outer fleet replaced with steel box floats, 12′ by 40′.
- Today2,500 feet of dock. Fifty boats, 15 to 80 feet.
Next step
Come see the place.
Walk the docks on a weekend afternoon. No appointment, no committee, no interview.