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Y. M. C. A. . . . .Swartz & Freeman were no
longer listed in the Denison City Directory of 1893–1894. John E. Swartz was
moving toward his future in Fort Worth, and G. C. Freeman was no longer listed
as a photographer. Instead, he had become secretary of Denison's Young Men's
Christian Association (YMCA). According to the 1896-1897 City
Directory, the YMCA Parlors offered "rooms for Christian young men on the
second floor of 307-309 West Woodard Street." The YMCA, located in the
Munson Block, was sponsored in part by the Missouri,
Kansas and Texas Railway,
as "the Y" offered wholesome, economical lodging for railroad
employees as well as other young men. Industrial
Denison, a photographic book compiled by local real estate promoter Frank
M. Robinson and published around 1909, contains four photographs of the YMCA's
fine reading room, parlor, gymnasium, and "bath and game rooms."
Perhaps Freeman himself took these photos. As general secretary of the YMCA,
Gamaliel had his office over 309 West Woodard Street and lived there, too. He
occupied this position for eighteen years, until his death in 1911. He never
married. However, he did have ambitious ideas for expanding the programs of the
local YMCA. The "Y" purchased a property at 531 West Main Street
(northeast corner of Mirick Avenue) as the site for a planned new YMCA
building. As late as 1921, the YMCA was
still quartered above 309 West Woodard Street, and the property at 531 West
Main Street was still vacant. Next door, at 523 West Main, was the Brookstone
Airdome, an outdoor vaudeville theater. Earlier this location had been occupied
successively by the photography studios of K. Thomas Williams (1898–1899); Cary
D. Ansley (1899–1911), who moved to 523 from 521 West Main; Walter Skipworth
(1911); Joseph J. Thomas (1913–1915); and Charles P. Newton (1917). By 1925, a new YMCA building had
been erected at 531 West Main. The 1925 Denison City Directory lists the Young
Men's Christian Association at that address. W. S. Hibbard was president;
George Morgan, vice president; A. Loret, recording secretary; H. G. Howe,
treasurer; and J. E. Morris, general secretary. The Christian Science Reading
Room succeeded the "Y" at 311 West Woodard in 1925. The YMCA on Main Street closed in
the 1930s. The building was sold in 1937 to Kraft-Phenix Cheese, which used it
as its regional headquarters. This moved to Garland, Texas, in 1949.  Y.M.C.A. History Organizations Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |