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YWCA of Central Massachusetts

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United States historic place
YWCA of Worcester
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
YWCA of Central Massachusetts is located in MassachusettsYWCA of Central MassachusettsShow map of MassachusettsYWCA of Central Massachusetts is located in the United StatesYWCA of Central MassachusettsShow map of the United States
Location2 YWCA Way, Worcester, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°15′36″N 71°47′59″W / 42.26000°N 71.79972°W / 42.26000; -71.79972
Area2.69 acres (1.09 ha)
Built1962 (1962)
ArchitectKilham, Hopkins, Greeley & Brodie
Architectural styleInternational Style
NRHP reference No.100007389
Added to NRHPFebruary 3, 2022
United States historic place
Worcester Young Women's Christian Association
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
YWCA of Central Massachusetts is located in MassachusettsYWCA of Central MassachusettsShow map of MassachusettsYWCA of Central Massachusetts is located in the United StatesYWCA of Central MassachusettsShow map of the United States
Location6 Chatham St., Worcester, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°15′43″N 71°48′14″W / 42.26194°N 71.80389°W / 42.26194; -71.80389
Area0.36 acres (0.15 ha)
Built1892 (1892)
ArchitectStephen C. Earle; George H. Clemence;
Architectural styleRichardsonian Romanesque; Classical Revival
NRHP reference No.100009287
Added to NRHPAugust 22, 2023

The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) of Worcester, now the YWCA of Central Massachusetts, was founded in 1885 in Worcester, Massachusetts. The nonprofit organization, like many other YWCA chapters, provides a wide variety of tailored services to women and children in its service area. Included are health and fitness services, transitional housing for single women and mothers with children, job training programs, and racial equity programs for women of color. The YWCA is headquartered at 2 YWCA in downtown Worcester, in a facility listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

History

The Worcester YWCA was founded in 1885 by fourteen women "to promote the temporal, moral and religious welfare of young women who are dependent on their own exertions for support." Initially operating classes out of leased commercial space, it soon acquired a property on Chatham Street where it established a boarding house in 1892. It acquired a campground in Princeton a few years afterward. Its services and offerings continued to expand over the years, and in 1960 it moved to its present facility just southwest of downtown Worcester. The Chatham Street campus, expanded to three buildings in the 1910s and 1920s, was sold to the adjacent department store, and in 2021 completed conversion to a mixed-use commercial/residential property. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.

Facilities

The current YWCA campus is located on under 3 acres (1.2 ha) southwest of Worcester's city hall. The area it stands in was the subject of an urban renewal project begun in the late 1950s, and was completed in 1962. It was designed by Kilham, Hopkins, Greeley & Brodie of Boston, and is a prominent local example of the International style of architecture, with its relatively unadorned exterior of brick, concrete, and glass, and organization of rectangular masses. The campus was listed on the National Register in 2022, for its architecture and social history.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Weekly listing". National Park Service.
  2. "Our History". YWCA of Central Mass. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  3. ^ "MACRIS Inventory Record and NRHP nomination for YWCA of Worcester". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  4. "NRHP nomination for Young Women's Christian Association". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2023-10-05.

External links

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