Civitan International was established on April 15, 1920, with the chartering of the Civitan Club of Birmingham, Alabama. In January 1927, the first Junior Civitan club was formed, but not chartered. It was organized at South Portland High School in Maine; its first membership included boys and girls, even though women were not permitted to join the senior organization until 1974. From 1927 to 1932, several more clubs were organized.

In 1932, the first three official Junior Civitan club charters were issued to clubs in Portland, Maine; Bristol, Tennessee; and Rogersville, Alabama. The stronghold of the Junior Civitan movement was in the southeastern United States, but several clubs formed on the West Coast. The first Canadian club was formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957, and Junior Civitan became truly international. Adult Civitan clubs began taking more and more interest in the youth program during the 1960s, since more than 400 clubs had been chartered. In 1965, the first issue of Countdown, the official magazine for Junior Civitans, was published.

Two years later Junior Civitan had 11 officially recognized districts and the first Governors Training Academy was held. A full-time youth director was added to the international staff in 1969, the same year that the first Junior Civitan International awards were presented.

Junior Civitan has continued to grow. In 1982, the program expanded into Europe with the chartering of a Norwegian club. Currently there are more than 15,000 members in almost 500 clubs. Junior Civitan continues to be one of the fastest growing service organizations in the world with clubs in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.