The club’s founding officers included former Peru Mayor Joe Lemler as Commodore, William Philips as Vice-Commodore, Henry Ostertag as Secretary, and Otto Wibiralski as Treasurer. Their vision created a community centered on boating, friendship, and life along the river — a tradition that continues today.

In April of 1937, the club took a major step forward by purchasing a 100-foot-long wooden barge to serve as its floating headquarters. Just two months later, a small cabin was constructed on the barge, giving members a place to gather and socialize on the water. The nearby bridge structure provided excellent fishing, but heavy barge traffic through its narrow channel often created wakes that damaged members’ boats.

One of the most significant natural events in the history of the Illinois River occurred in May 1943, when weeks of heavy spring rains caused the river and many of its tributaries to swell well beyond their banks. By late May, floodwaters had spread across large areas of central Illinois, inundating low-lying communities, farmland, rail lines, and riverfront industries.

The Illinois River reached its peak in the Peoria area on May 23, 1943, cresting at approximately 28.8 feet, which at the time was the highest water level ever recorded there. The rising water threatened homes, businesses, and transportation along the riverfront. For several days, residents, factory workers, and volunteers worked around the clock filling sandbags and reinforcing levees in an effort to protect communities along the river. The flood caused widespread disruption across the region and remained the highest recorded crest on the Illinois River at Peoria for nearly seventy years, until it was finally surpassed in 2013.

The Flood of 1943 remains one of the most memorable high-water events in central Illinois history and serves as a reminder of the powerful role the Illinois River has played in shaping the communities along its banks.

By the late 1940s, the old plank bridge had deteriorated and was eventually closed to both foot and vehicle traffic. With the bridge no longer providing easy access to the south bank, the club faced a major turning point. In the spring of 1950, the barge was relocated by towboat to its current home at the west end of Water Street. While the location changed, the name remained — with one humorous addition: South Shore Boat Club, “On the North Shore.”

The move proved to be a pivotal decision that allowed the club to grow and thrive. Improvements followed in the years ahead, including the installation of a ramp in 1953 (no longer functional) and a gas dock in 1955 (currently un-operational), helping establish South Shore as a true hub for boaters along the Illinois River.

South Shore Boat Club celebrates the 30th anniversary. 

In August 2004, members of South Shore Boat Club were treated to a rare sight on the Illinois River when a full-scale sailing replica of Christopher Columbus’s ship Niña passed by the club. Built in Bahia, Brazil between 1988 and 1991 using traditional 15th-century shipbuilding techniques and hand tools, the vessel was constructed to faithfully represent the famous caravel that sailed with Columbus in 1492.

After its completion, the replica Niña began an extraordinary voyage across the Atlantic and throughout the Americas as a traveling floating museum. Over the years the ship has logged more than 250,000 miles and visited hundreds of ports along the coasts, the Great Lakes, and the inland river systems of the United States. Its journey through the Mississippi and Illinois River system brought the historic vessel past South Shore Boat Club in August 2004, where members captured these photos of the ship under sail.

The visit offered a remarkable glimpse into maritime history, as the ship’s design, rigging, and sails closely replicate the small but capable caravels that helped usher in the Age of Exploration more than 500 years ago. Sightings like this are rare on inland rivers, making the Niña’s passage a memorable moment in the club’s history.