There were two different buildings for boathouses on Crystal Lake. One was Gardner Boat Club House
was located a few hundred feet north of the pumping station. It was built in 1890 and torn down in 1923. It was a social club with parties at the boat house and took people on tours of Crystal Lake. It was popular to decorate the Boat Club House and the boats at night with Chinese lanterns. Some of the boats that plied Crystal Lake were Little Favorite, Waukegan and Zephyr.

There was also a boathouse at the southern end of Crystal Lake which rented excursion boats. There were steam boats that cruised the lake, taking passengers between Crystal Lake Park at the northern end of the lake and the Boathouse at the Southern end.

Crystal Lake was only open to boating from
1875 until 1900. It was in 1900 that the State of Massachusetts took control of all lakes used as water
supplies. Crystal Lake Park was originally Heywood Grove, until the Heywood Family donated it to the
Boston, Barre and Gardner Railroad in 1875. The railroad added the wharf for the steamboats.