Today the Boll Family YMCA opened the cornerstone of the old YMCA building that was laid on Saturday, April 11, 1908 at, according to the documents, four in the afternoon. As custom for the time, they included a newspaper from the day, brochures, bibles, and more. Later that year, not only would the Detroit Tigers make the World Series but Henry Ford would roll his first Model T off the production line.
Also interesting was a winter term schedule, where you could learn such things as railway mail service, plumbing, shorthand, and violin, amongst many other types of classes.
The old YMCA stood until 1997 at Witherell and Adams, right where today’s Comerica Park is today. Check out the interesting old documents for yourself below.
The YMCA stands for Young Men’s Christian Association, and the organization was founded in 1844 in London, England. Today in the United States they say they’re in 10,000 neighborhoods. The modern Boll YMCA on Broadway is just a few blocks from where this old building stood.
H/T to the Downtown Detroit Partnership and IMGUR