The Canterbury Club was established in 1872 by the 'newer' gentlemen of the province, professionals and businessmen, who found their backgrounds and interests to be different from those of the gentry membership of the established Christchurch Club (1856). The newly formed club purchased a property at the corner of Cambridge Tce and Worcester St, and commissioned W. B. Armson, a member, to design a club building. However Armson was compelled to withdraw because of ill health, and the commission fell in 1873 to Frederick Strouts instead. Strouts designed the greater part of the Italianate building in which the club still resides.

The hitching post outside the club appears to have been erected at the club's instigation in the 1870s or 1880s; a member suggested in 1875 that it would be a good idea. Once a ubiquitous feature of colonial towns, this hitching post is today one of few remaining in the city, and a poignant reminder of the time when horses were the main form of transport.