Harrisburg
While dredging and commercial construction occurred along the Buffalo Bayou from approximently 1910-1927, the Houston Yacht Club was re-located further east on the bayou at Harrisburg, near Brady Island. This location is a few miles east of current day University of Houston.
Harrisburg initially represented an ideal locale for sailing sports: the dredging of the ship channel offered quiet, deep streams for the organization’s members. This property also fostered group’s canoeists who relished the quiet and calm waters near Harrisburg.
By 1910, the fleet numbered more than 100 boats, from large cruisers to small crafts.
As Houston and the commercial waterway grew, however, the Club’s canoeists encountered increased difficulties from their position at Harrisburg. In March 1924, the canoeing division, whose summer retreat was near Greens Bayou on the Ship Channel, opted to relocate to an entirely new site. According to the canoeing division, “The ship channel was no longer an ideal location for canoeing because increased traffic on the Channel resulted in the constant threat of being overturned by the wake of tugs, speedboats, and freighters.” Thus, the Yacht Club’s longstanding support of the Ship Channel and the development of the Port of Houston, ironically, served as a disadvantage to one of the organization’s more formidable and popular wings. The canoeing division, in the end, moved to a new site near the San Jacinto River.