YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION (Y.M.C.A.)

YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION (Y.M.C.A.). The Dubuque chapter of Y.M.CA. was organized at a meeting held in the lecture room of the Congregational Church on September 11, 1856. This makes the Dubuque chapter one of the first west of the MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

A constitution and bylaws were written soon after the first meeting, and officers were elected. N. C. Ryder was elected president of the board of directors. Vice-presidents were D. K. Cornwall and W. C. Chamberlain.

The first Y.M.C.A. was opened in November 1866, in rooms over a drugstore at 130 North Main Street. The "Y" was later relocated to 679 Main Street. The facilities included a boxing room and another room for social activities, Gospel meetings, and Bible study. Growth in membership did not occur until the 1890s. A fund-raising campaign was organized in 1894 to secure funds to finance the construction of new facilities.

One of the greatest donations ever received by the organization came on March 30, 1894, when Henry L. STOUT accepted a check drawn on the SECOND NATIONAL BANK for $1.00 from C. H. Fiegenbaum representing the Y.M.C.A. for his home, valued at $20,000, at the corner of Ninth and Iowa STREETS to the Y.M.C.A. Stout had been interested in the work of the Y.M.C.A. by Fred B. Smith who served as the head of the organization locally beginning in 1892. Stout's home was used as the organization's headquarters.

Construction soon began on the adjacent lot. A large building, still present in 1990, housed a gymnasium and two floors of residence rooms. Completed in October 1894, the gymnasium was used longer than the residence rooms that were gradually closed due to their age and condition.

In 2010 the building described in this paragraph had been converted into the Henry Stout Senior Apartments.

In 1916 the Stout home was demolished and replaced by a five-story building costing $175,000. This structure housed administrative offices, two meeting rooms, sixty-two residence rooms, lockers, clubroom, handball court, swimming pool, weightlifting room, and health center.

In 1968 an option was signed for the Frudden property on Dodge Street as the site for a combined Y.W.C.A.-Y.M.CA. building. Wayne Andrew NORMAN, Sr. was named campaign chairperson. The Theodore property on Dodge Street was later purchased with the understanding that the residents could live in the home as long as they wished.

The new home of the Y.M.C.A. and the Y.W.C.A.

Bids for the project were let in August of 1969. In 1970 construction began. The Y.W.CA. and Y.M.CA. moved into their new building at 35 North Booth in 1971. An estimated six thousand people toured the facility during the open house. Additions to the building were made in 1980 and 1986. (Photo Courtesy: http://www.dubuquepostcards.com)