From its humble beginnings, the Cooktown Bowls Club was established by a small group of keen bowling Cooktown locals in the late 1970's. This group of local enthusiasts banded together and applied to the Cook Shire Council for land near the Historic Endeavour River. Many hours of volunteering and fundraising were conducted to establish a bowls club.  In December 1979, the Club acquired its first lease from Cook Shire Council. Cooktown Bowls Club was eventually registered as an Association in October, 1986.

The first established Clubhouse  was a wire cattle crate covered with a blue tarpauline, beer cooled in an esky and plastic chairs on an earth floor. This was in early May 1992. On the 30th of  May 1992, the Cooktown Bowls Club Inc. was officially opened by dignitaries from Darwin, Brisbane and the Governor of Queensland, Sir Walter Campbell. Then in 1994 a second club house was built, a demountable building with a cold room. Many visiting bowls clubs were fed and watered by the lady bowlers in somewhat primitive conditions. There were a few grumbles about the conditions but lots of laughs and good times had by all.

Four years later,  on the 30th of  October 1998, thanks to fundraising, warehouse bowls and  funding from the Queensland Government, a new club house was built. By 2007, it was goodbye to the grass and hello to a new carpeted green.

On the 31st of  August 2013, a new extension was officially opened by MP Warren Entsch and that is the club as you see it today. A new undercover area with synthetic green grass was added to the improvements in 2015.

The club still runs on volunteer members with a limited amount of paid staff. Cooktown Bowls Club has approximately 50 active bowlers and their presence is well established in competing with the clubs on the Tablelands and Cairns areas.