The Earliest Years
In the late 1800s, the growing city of Cleveland welcomed the railroads and the progress that came with them. A group of prominent citizens, concerned about the proliferation of railroads and interested in preserving some of the lakefront for recreation, organized The Cleveland Yachting Association in 1878. George W. Gardner, who served as Commodore for the association’s first 16 years, is also credited with founding the Inter-Lake Yachting Association (I-LYA).
The lakefront around the busy Cuyahoga River was mostly open country. Our present CYC site was a marshy piece of property known as Indian Island. What is now Clifton Park was a picnic area in a grove of trees. The village of Rocky River consisted of Silverthorne’s Tavern and a couple of stores.
The club was incorporated in 1888 and renamed the Cleveland Yacht Club. Club headquarters were first located at Superior and E. 3rd, now the site of the Cleveland Public Library. A new clubhouse was built in 1895 on Erie Street for a grand sum of $20,000 and quickly became known for seasonal galas that were very popular with Cleveland society. It became a tradition for “Auld Lang Syne” to be sung at the end of these parties. It was there that Guy Lombardo, who adopted it as his theme song, began his road to fame with his Royal Canadians.
Turn of the Century
In the late 1890s, the owner of one of CYC’s five yachts who moored in Rocky River for the summer thought it would a great location for a club. In March 1900, the Lakewood Yacht Club was born and secured permission from The Clifton Park Land & Improvement Company to use its riverfront land to haul out and repair LYC yachts. Construction of a clubhouse began in 1902, on a location bordering the river at the west end of Clifton Park beach. During 1906, LYC purchased our island for $9,000. At that time the West Channel was the river, hence our yacht club island belonged to Lakewood, a situation that lasted until 1945.
Early 1900s
The LYC clubhouse was moved from Clifton Beach Park to the island in June of 1908 with the only access by ferry from Clifton Park. With funds needed to not only purchase the island, but also for badly needed dredging and bulkheading, LYC and CYC decided, with unanimous approval, to merge. Access to the island in 1913 was still limited to the water. That summer CYC bought a used bridge that had been on a country road over the Black River in Elyria. The purchase and proposed installation was vehemently resisted by some Rocky River residents and the Rocky River Power & Light Company, contending that a permanent bridge would cut off access to the West Channel by boats and maintenance equipment. Finally, a group of CYC members—under the cover of darkness—placed the bridge across the river during the night. This infuriated opponents of the bridge. Eventually it required an Act of Congress to authorize the bridge’s installation!
The Roaring 20s
The 1920s were grand socially and difficult financially for CYC. During Prohibition, Clifton Park Lagoon was a favorite unloading spot for then-illegal alcohol. Maintaining the extent of the club facilities proved too much for members to handle financially, however. The club was declared bankrupt and its assets sold in 1924. In June, a tornado struck, making Rocky River valley a lake and jamming the mouth of the river with drifting boats.
The Great Depression
The Great Depression years were challenging for CYC, but it was held together by a small, dedicated group. As a publicity stunt to attract new members, a stag lobster dinner was arranged, “All the lobster you can eat for two bits and a dime.” Prohibition had just been repealed and a moving van load of beer was secured. Farrell’s Fish House on Euclid Avenue agreed to provide the lobster at cost, prepare and serve it free, and, they threw in coffee and potato chips! 643 people came, ate and drank. Tickets, bought with cash were used in playing games of chance. It was so successful that the club wound up with a profit and terrific publicity.
The 40s, 50s and 60s
World War II years were actually good ones at the club in terms of numbers of boat classes that participated and raced. CYC members contributed to the war effort in many ways. The post-war years brought activities such as a stag fish fry and popular 4-D nights: Dunk, Drink, Dine and Dance. The mid-summer Regatta show was taken over by an all-member cast rather than hired entertainment.
In 1949 the club was able to exercise a lease option and purchase the island. In addition to celebrating its 75 th anniversary, 1953 saw the club’s mortgage paid in full, enabling major improvements to begin.
In the spring of 1956, a cold front hit Rocky River and Lakewood. An anemometer on top a Clifton Park Lagoon home was blown away after the dial topped 105 knots!
January of 1959 saw a massive ice jam form in the mouth of the Rocky River. Water rose steadily; then roared across the surface of the island, carrying tons of ice. Boats were toppled like a house of cards; some sank, some drifted into the lake and were never recovered. Mounds of ice were taller than island buildings. It was several days before bulldozers and members working with picks and shovels were able to clear fire lanes.
The 1960s saw the construction of a new clubhouse and in 1968, the burning of the mortgage papers marked CYC as debt-free. The late 60s also saw the eyes of the yachting world on CYC as the challenger for the Canada’s Cup.
United States Bicentennial—CYC’s Centennial
During the 70s a new junior school and recreation pavilion, Center Isle, was dedicated. And CYC hosted more and more series of races. During the United States bicentennial in 1976, the flag line sailed across the Rocky River to CYC in a re-enactment of Washington’s Potomac River crossing and were greeted by Redcoats on the island, all costumed in colonial dress.
CYC’s centennial celebrations in 1978 included Cleveland’s own celebrity, the late and extremely popular columnist Dorothy Fuldheim, addressing a sell-out crowd at a Ladies’ Day Luncheon. Most events ended with the singing of “Auld Lang Syne,” as they had 100 years before. The 1980s brought construction of a temporary one-lane bridge that served during the construction of a new bridge in 1987. That year the old wooden dock boxes transitioned into the white fiberglass boxes now seen all around the island.