It is, unfortunately difficult to establish the exact history of Huntingdon Boat Club as most of the early records of the club were destroyed in 1958 when the boathouse where they were stored was flooded. Much of the history of the club was also held in the minds older members and sadly many of these members have long since passed away. However there is still a nucleus of members and families who have had a long association with the club, and it is from their memories and remaining documentation that was not destroyed in the flood of 1958 that this history is taken from. Tracing the post 1958 history to modern times has been somewhat easier as much of the documentation and records are still in existence.

Huntingdon Boat Club was founded in 1854 with the aim to “Promote and further the interest of rowing in Huntingdon”, which remains as true today as it was then. The prime mover and organiser was the curate of All Saints Church of Huntingdon.

Huntingdon Boat Club was one of the first clubs to be founded away from the Thames Valley and was the first boat club to be founded in County of Huntingdonshire , as the area was known then. The County of Huntingdonshire ceased to exist in 1974 when the area became part of Cambridgeshire. A further sign of the longevity of the club is demonstrated by the designation of Boat Club as opposed to Rowing Club, which tends to be used by clubs founded after 1860. Other local clubs founded on the river Great Ouse around this time were St Ives Rowing Club in 1860, St Neots Rowing Club in 1865 and finally Bedford Rowing Club in 1886.

The longest break in clubs history has been when the club was temporarily “Moth Balled” during the years of 1914 to 1918 because of the First World War. The club was then re-formed in 1921 and then temporarily suspended again during the Second World War. It was then re-formed again in 1945 and has remained active ever since.

Huntingdon Boat Club can be identified by its distinctive club colours, which are officially described as Cardinal Red and Dark Blue. Reasons why these colours were chosen remains unsure. The racing singlets or “Vests” worn by Huntingdon's crews can be identified by a Red body panel with a single thick Dark Blue diagonal stripe running form to right to left. Huntingdon's rowing and sculling blades are painted in Red and Blue halves.

Huntingdon Boat Club is lucky enough to train on a 5'000 metre uninterrupted stretch of the river Great Ouse from the town of Huntingdon to the village of Houghton , where the famous water mill built in the 18 th century is located. Houghton mill was the last active water mill on the river Great Ouse and when it stopped milling in 1930 the river ceased to be a working river. Nowadays the river is solely used for leisure and boating activities. The stretch of river between Huntingdon and Houghton has changed little since the Boat Clubs formation 1854. The only major change being in the 1970s when the island known locally as “ Swan Island ” which was in the centre of the river just off the Huntingdon town bridge was removed to improve navigation and drainage. Unfortunately despite attempts to cure it the river still suffers from flooding, in recent times the worst flood came in Easter 1998 when heavy rain caused the river to rise rapidly causing a major flood. The boathouse itself came very near to flooding with the water only stopping centimetres away from entering the boathouse.

Archdeacon Vesey, of Castle Hill House Huntingdon gave the club a 99-year lease on the first location of the club. This location was known as “Skipper Hall's” yard. The site is now occupied by Huntingdon Marine and Leisure and is located between the A14 flyover and the ancient river-bridge. The original boathouse in Skipper Hall's yard is still standing and is now used as a workshop by Huntingdon Marine and Leisure. Lack of ownership of the site by the club and the expiry of the 99-year lease prompted Mr Hall to ask the club to vacate the site. It was now the early 1950s and there were various suggestions on where the club should move too. Both the Town Council and the Mayor were approached for help in securing a new location the Mayor of Huntingdon at the time was Mr Bradshaw and having been a Patron of the Club for many years he managed to arrange a tenancy at the “Old Bathing Station”. Which was situated on the Alconbury Brook close to it's joining with the river Great Ouse, almost directly under the present A14 bypass high level Road Bridge . The new bridge having taken the place of a wooden railway bridge, which stood only about 1.5 metres above the water. The Bathing Station as its name implies, was a changing area for people wishing to bathe in the river and was located opposite the old gasworks on Mill Common. The site had become vacant and the Bathing Station disused as the Brook was considered unsuitable for bathing due to pollution from sewage outlets and the nearby gasworks. Work began in 1953 on the new boathouse which was built by the club members of the time. It was officially finished and opened in 1954. Unfortunately, the site suffered badly from flooding and members and sponsors had to give any funding for improvements. However, the RAF Rowing Club also shared the facility owning the adjoining boathouse and, the two clubs sometimes competing in combined crews enjoyed a successful period of rowing during the mid 1970s. Lack of space, poor facilities and increasing vandalism together with a general drive to further the sport of rowing encouraged the Club Committee to strive to find another new home in the mid 1980s.