Postcard History

The Village People was an American disco group that scored a hit single with YMCA in 1978. YMCA reached No. 1 on the hit music charts in over fifteen countries including the U.K. and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. It poked gentle fun at the YMCA but obscures the important role that the YMCA played in urban life in the early 20^th century.

The Young Men’s Christian Association was founded in London in 1844. In 1851, the second YMCA and the first in the United States opened in Boston followed by Montreal the following year. Later in 1852, a fourth YMCA opened in Springfield, Massachusetts. Through to the end of the century, YMCAs sprung up across America.

American cities in the late 19^th and early 20^th century had only questionable activities for young men of the day. Many cities had red-light districts that operated openly without interference from the police, and before Prohibition was enacted in 1920, cities and small towns were dotted with saloons. Affordable lodging was often in short supply in urban areas.

The mission of the YMCA was to serve young men, many just off the farm and in a big city for the first time. A YMCA provided clean, safe, and inexpensive lodging for travelers as well as long term residents. The supervised environment ensured that young men would stay on the right track. It offered wholesome activities such as sports and lectures to occupy the residents after work. Many YMCAs offered classes for residents to improve their skills as they sought employment. The YMCA offered sports programs for urban youths. Its swimming pools enabled large numbers of boys to learn to swim. During World War I and World War II, the YMCA aided members of the armed forces. To fulfill its mission, the YMCA often built magnificent structures across America.

Unlike the first three YMCAs that were founded in large cities, Springfield, Massachusetts was a bustling manufacturing center, but its population, in the 1850 census, barely exceeded 11,000 people. In 1916, the Springfield YMCA opened a new building at the corner of Hillman and Chestnut Streets after it outgrew an 1890s building. The new seven-story structure was built in the Classical Revival architectural style. Its lower floors housed recreational facilities while the upper floors provided temporary and long-term housing for young men. An addition in 1929, in the same architectural style, expanded the building by a third.

The 1940 census provided information on the 173 men who resided at the Springfield YMCA. All the young men were in their 20s or early 30s, who were working in both blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Many were employed at the Springfield Armory that was ramping up production on the eve of World War II.

The YMCA used the building until 1968 when it moved to a new facility. Later the building was converted to a 99-unit apartment building.

The William Sloane House YMCA was located on West 34^th Street and 9^th Avenue near Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan. When it opened in 1930, it was the largest YMCA lodging facility in the world. It had 1,595 rooms; single and double rooms were available on the twelve residential floors. Later renovations reduced the room count to 1,492. (A newspaper ad from the 1930s showed rates of 75 cents for the 533 single rooms and $1.30 for double rooms.) Bathroom and shower facilities were communal. There was a gymnasium with handball, basketball, and volleyball courts as well as a banquet room, cafeteria, and barbershop.

Sloane House had a second mission to assist military members. It was at its peak during World War II when millions of servicemen passed through New York City.

Unfortunately, Sloane House began to decline in the 1960s and during the 1970s, it resorted to providing long term dormitory rooms for college students. In the 1980s, the Sloane House experienced a downward spiral, and the building was sold to a developer. In 1993, Sloane House was converted to apartments for young professionals.

The Victor F. Lawson YMCA on Chicago’s Gold Coast opened on October 30, 1931. It was named for the late Victor Lawson, the publisher of the Chicago Daily News. Mr. Lawson provided $1.5 million in his will for construction of the building. Construction cost $2,754,000.

When it was completed, it was the tallest building in Chicago. Located at 30 West Chicago Avenue, the Art Deco 24-story building provided lodging for 725 men in 650 rooms. The brick exterior was richly decorated with bas reliefs carved in the limestone panels on the building.

There were two large gyms, volleyball and handball courts, a swimming pool, rifle range, mechanical exercise room, boxing room with a ring, and locker rooms equipped to serve 2,500 men. Ten studios offered spaces for hobbies, handicrafts, and music practice. Facilities included an auditorium, chapel, lounges, library, barbershop, and four restaurants including a cafeteria and fountain room. A rooftop garden on the 19^th floor overlooked the city.

By the 1980s the building had deteriorated and over 100 rooms were uninhabitable. New plumbing and wiring were needed to bring the building up to code as well as exterior masonry repairs. The YMCA was unable to fund the necessary repairs and moved out of the building in 2013. In 2021, the building was sold to a developer for $1 who began a restoration with a $129 million renovation. Now open, the Lawson House offers 409 studio apartments for low-income renters.

Located at 351 Turk Street in the Tenderloin District the YMCA Hotel in San Francisco opened in 1928. It’s a twelve-story building with 436 rooms. Unlike other YMCAs, lodging was open to men, women, and children. The postcard mailed in June 1940 indicated that rooms cost between $1.25 and $1.75 per day. Today the building houses the Oasis Apartments containing 230 studio apartments.

The “new” YMCA in downtown St. Louis at 1528 Locust Street opened in 1925. A postcard mailed in the summer of 1928 shows the Renaissance Revival building with its ornate architectural details. There were accommodations for 412 men as well as a cafeteria, grill, library, auditorium, billiard room, gym, barbershop, tailor shop, and locker room and showers. There was also a boys’ sports department. One member described the lavish wood paneled lobby as having the ambiance of a private gentlemen’s club. In the basement, the walls of the pool deck were covered with terracotta tiles. This YMCA closed in January 2017 citing the facility as too large for its needs and too expensive to operate. It had previously sold the building to a real estate concern and leased the lower floors. The lodging facilities had been closed for decades and have been left to deteriorate. The building now houses the 21c Museum Hotel, a 173-room boutique hotel and a contemporary art museum. The Locust Athletic and Swim Club operates in the former YMCA facility.

A postcard mailed in 1920 shows the Central YMCA located at Seventh and Grace Streets in the center of downtown Richmond. This YMCA was built in 1909, replacing a building built in 1882 at Sixth and Main Streets. It had 98 rooms with hot and cold water in each room. The building featured a natatorium that was the first indoor pool in Richmond. It also had a gymnasium with the latest fitness equipment as well as a lunchroom, lecture hall, and barbershop. The caption on the back proclaims that construction cost $300,000 of which the citizens of Richmond set a “world record” by contributing $200,000 in a fifteen-day campaign to fund the building.  

In 1942, a new YMCA was built several blocks away on the edge of downtown and is still in operation today. The YMCA on Grace Street was demolished to make room for the expansion of Thalhimer’s Department Store.

The Naval YMCA, located in downtown Norfolk, was designed to serve men in the navy rather than the civilian population. John D. Rockefeller provided a gift of $250,000 for the building’s construction in 1906. Designed to provide inexpensive lodging and wholesome activities to occupy sailors when their ships were in port, it kept them away from notorious East Main Street that was home to brothels, taverns, tattoo parlors, and the Gaiety Burlesque Theater.

The Navy Y served thousands of sailors daily during World War I and World War II. During World War II, dances were conducted there that allowed sailors and soldiers to mingle with local young women. It also operated a beach club along Chesapeake Bay for members of the military.

The Navy Y ceased operations in the early 1970s, and the building housed the Union Mission for three decades. After the Union Mission moved from downtown Norfolk, the building was redeveloped into luxury apartments named The Rockefeller.

The San Diego Army and Navy YMCA was located at 500 Broadway near the Navy Pier and the Santa Fe Depot. Built in 1924, the ornate Italian Renaissance Revival building had six stories plus a basement. Among the architectural flourishes were two Juliet balconies flanking the entrance, the sixth-floor windows had curved cornices, and a red tile roof circled the building. The main entrance featured intricate carved friezes. It had a two-story gymnasium with an elevated running track and a swimming pool in the basement. There was also a coffee shop. The upper floors contained dormitory-style rooms for servicemen to spend the night during their furlough in San Diego.

Demand for rooms during World War II was so great, cots were set up in the hallways to accommodate the overflow. Throughout its history, it is estimated that 125-million service personnel passed through its doors.

After the end of the Viet Nam War, the demand for the Armed Services YMCA waned. Its upper floors later housed the 259-room low-cost 500 West Hotel. The downtown YMCA leased the former gymnasium and swimming pool. In 2019, it underwent an $80 million renovation and reopened as the 162-room boutique Guild Hotel.