YWCA of Asheville
100 Years

BUILDINGS OF THE YWCA

Two become One

Central YWCA

Phyllis Wheatley branch
1906 - 1919   Home of James W. and Henrietta Patton, 78 Biltmore Ave., was built in 1857, the first local residence with indoor plumbing. Mr. Patton and his two elder sons died during the Civil War.  It was renovated and opened by the YWCA in 1906-7 and named the Henrietta House.
                     

The organization was for all women, regardless of their status in life, a prayer group, a home for nurses.

  Booklet from the Henrietta House

  
Henrietta House soon proved to be too small, with the growing numbers of      YWCA residents.

 

 

 1913  -  A group of Negro women began meeting on Sunday afternoons, which evolved into the Employment Club.  This group worked to find work for members and sponsored social activities and purchased a building on Market Street., in 1921, for the Phyllis Wheatley Negro Branch,

Phyllis Wheatley Information
1920 - 1924    The YWCA purchased the Cherokee Inn  in 1920.

  •  The Cherokee Inn, corner of Oak and Woodfin, was built in  1856.  The once Oaks Hotel was remodeled and renamed the Cherokee Inn. Upkeep was expensive for the YWCA, so it was sold.
  

 The Market Street building  was turned over to the U.S. government during World War I.  It was later returned and subsequently sold. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1922 - 1924   YWCA general offices, Castanea Building, 57-65 Haywood Street

1924 - The home of Mrs. Charles Platt,  52 Merrimon,  provided space for the Central YWCA during construction of a new building.

 

1924   -  Central YWCA on Grove Street building was completed,  13 Grove Street.  This sites provided offices and room for activities.  This site remained active through 1970.

"Back in the late 20s, or all in there, that was one of the things that the Y stood for.  Where the original Y and connected to that was a building where women could stay overnight.  It was looking after a place where a girl coming to the city for the first time needed to be looked at"  Florence Ryan

 1921  -  The Phyllis Wheatley branch formally opened at 272 College St. 
  • Meetings were then held in a building which was later purchased - 272 College Street. 

 

 

 

 
1934  -  Samuel Moorehead bequeathed $100,000 to the Central YWCA, through his daughter, Mrs. Charles S. Bryant, a YWCA board officer.  Mrs.  Bryant donated an additional $10,000 dollars toward the Moorehead House.
An elegant boarding house, Moorehead House, was built at 23 Grove Street, for " women of quality." It provided safe, reasonable, reliable housing for working women, ages 18-37  " For the next 36 years it was home for wave after wave of working girls and students. "Thelma Caldwell

From 1934-1970, Moorehead House offered boarding as well as classes.  The Moorehead House was joined to the 13 Grove Street YWCA facility by a covered passageway.

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1939  -  A new building was erected on this site on College Street, next to the older, 100 year old building. The Center was used as a residence for girls and for classes and club meetings.  The new building was the only fully equipped gymnasium for Negroes the South.  "This filled a real need for the Negro community  --  it was a community within itself  --  all the clubs, parties, teas, and other co-ed social and educational functions were held at the Phyllis Wheatley ." Thelma Caldwell

Women from Phyllis Wheatley branch of the YWCA

   1940

   1951

1959

 
  1961  -  Phyllis Wheatley Branch building on College Street was purchased by the N.C. Highway Commission to be  torn down for Asheville cross-town expressway construction. The Asheville School Board and The City Council permitted temporary use of an old green school building, 123 Asheland Ave.

"The YWCA (Phyllis Wheatley) was on Ashland Ave. They bought the site on French Broad.  The site had a big, old house and they wanted them to use that and, under cover, we kept tearing it down every time they'd bring it up.  I'd bring up something else.  So, they finally tore the old building down and built it where it is now." Lacy Haith

1963  -  First integrated swimming classes held in Grove Street Pool

 

1968  -  YWCA board votes to close the Grove Street YWCA 

 1962 - Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new branch at 185 South French Broad.  Miss Virginia Johnson, chairman of Interfaith Club council of Y-Teens, Mrs. Charles S. Bryant, chairman of the Board of Trustees of the YWCA, Mrs. H. Wilson, President of the YWCA, and Mrs. H. Wilson, chairman of the Board of Administration of the PhyllisWheatley Br.

 

Thelma  Caldwell,
Executive Director,
insists:

  • the new branch NOT be located in a Black residential neighborhood
  • new branch name be South French Broad rather than Phyllis Wheatley
 

1970  -  Phyllis Wheatley Branch and the Central YWCA merge and become the YWCA of Asheville - 185 South French Broad

 
1974 - Plans begin to build new gym and pool at French Broad YWCA.  Membership is currently 5,000 with 2,000 active. Thelma Caldwell stated "This building is bursting at the seams...but when we finish the new facility, we expect our membership to double." Capital campaign to raise $425,000 begins.
1999 - Capital campaign to renovate and expand the facilities begins.  Honorary Campaign Chairs are Elspeth Clarke, Thelma Caldwell and Leah Karpen. 

The campaign cabinet also includes a broad cross-section of the Asheville community, including YWCA board members Judy Futch and Jennie Eblen.                             
2001 -
         WE DID IT!
     ANNOUNCEMENT AND CELEBRATION

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2002  -  It's time to start digging for the renovated YWCA of Asheville.
                                                     

2002    YWCA of Asheville is re-dedicated.    Text Box: THELMA CALDWELL

Club W: The YWCA Health and Fitness Center opens and serves the community.

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