The Rotary Club of Galveston was founded February 24, 1913, by Harry W. Stanley, vice-president of the Western Division of the International Association of Rotary Clubs, four Rotarians from Houston and fourteen local businessmen.

At its first meeting in December 1913, the Galveston club flew a specially designed flag from the staff of the Hotel Galvez. It is believed to be the first Rotary club flag anywhere. Inspired by this example, Rotary International recommended that every club adopt a distinctive banner.

The club's membership ranged between 100 and 160 in the early decades, reaching 200 in 1962. The total has fluctuated between 155 and 210 during the past thirty years. The club admitted its first woman in 1988.

On February 24, 1993, the club's eightieth birthday was celebrated by 208 members, including 29 women. In December 1992, five women joined the club's board of directors.

Throughout these eight decades, members enjoyed activities including:

• weekly luncheons with informative or entertaining programs
• dinners, dances and social events
• fun trips to the Astrodome, the Lone Star Amphitheater and the 1894 Grand Opera House
• publication of club bulletins and directories
• regular meetings of club committees and boards
• softball and golf tournaments

The club honors various vocations by inviting non-Rotarians to address luncheon meetings, and gives awards to outstanding teachers and law-enforcement officers.

To improve the quality of life in Galveston, Rotarians have given uncounted hours and dollars during the club's eighty-four years of service. Contributions are made by individual Rotarians who volunteer for service to city, county and private organizations. During the past eight years, for example, club members have served as officers of the United Way campaign in Galveston County.

Contributions are also made by club members working together on community service projects.

• In 1919, sixty members contributed $4,000 to organize Galveston's first chapter of the Boy Scouts.
• A Student Loan Fund, established in 1925, became a Student Scholarship Program by 1958, and continues today. Mike Martin, one of Galveston's elected representatives in the Texas legislature, benefitted from one of these scholarships while in college.
• In 1974, the Galveston Historical Foundation used a club donation to transform Ashton Villa's carriage house into a vistor information center.
• In 1984, the club donated $10,000 to install an emergency alarm system in every room of Gulf Breeze Apartments, a high-rise, senior citizen residence.
• Over the last twenty-one years, the club has donated over $250,000 in proceeds of its annual chili supper to many worthwhile projects.
• An endowed foundation, established in 1990, provides additional dollars for community service projects. In 1996, the trustees of the foundation pledged a gift of $11,200 for the first endowed scholarship of Galveston College's Universal Access Program.

The club supports the international service ideals of Rotary by contributing materials and money to World Community Service projects, by participating in the Gift of Life and the Polio Plus programs and by supporting Group Study Exchanges and Youth Exchange Students. Between 1986 and 1992, twenty Korean children and four Panamanian children received corrective heart surgery at John Sealy Hospital as part of the Gift of Life Program. The club contributed more than $12,000 to the Polio Plus Program of Rotary International, which raised more than $200 million worldwide to vaccinate children against polio and other childhood diseases.

The Rotary Club of Galveston has sponsored three new, local clubs: Texas City in 1927, Alvin in 1951, and Galveston Island in 1976. It has hosted fourteen district conferences. Five Galveston members have served as district governor: George Marshall (1943-44), Vandal D. Mercer (1948-49), Andy Monsour (1981-82), Harold Fattig (1986-87) and Chester Burns (1993-94). Nineteen members have been elected to the district's Roll of Fame.