DUANE
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Duane's take
The official marker tells it like this, and I'm just the one passing it along. Back in 1898, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad did something you don't see every day. They chartered a Young Men's Christian Association, right there in Temple, Texas.
Then the very next year, 1899, they erected a three-story structure, just across the street from where this marker stands, to furnish lodging and recreation for railway workers. Three stories. That's not a modest gesture.
That's a statement. And it wasn't just for the railroad men, either. The facility served Temple citizens broadly, and it pioneered in providing athletic activities for youth.
Pioneered. That word does some real work. The men who kept that mission going, the principal community leaders of the Y, were W.S.
Rowland, Dr. A.C. Scott, Dr.
J.M. Woodson, Dr. R.T.
Wilson, and Walter R. Humphrey. Five names worth remembering.
Now, here's where the story takes a hard turn. In 1934, the first Y.M.C.A. building burned. Just gone.
But Temple being Temple, they rebuilt it the very next year. That rebuilt structure served its community for several more years, right up until 1942, when the facilities were given over to the USO. From railroad workers to soldiers.
The building changed hands, but the idea, serving people who needed a place, held all the way through.
What the marker says
In 1898, the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad chartered a Young Men's Christian Association and, in 1899, erected a 3-story structure across the street from this site to furnish lodging and recreation for railway workers. The facility also served Temple citizens and pioneered in providing athletic activities for youth. The principal community leaders of the "Y" were W.S. Rowland (1866-1940), Dr. A.C. Scott (1865-1940), Dr. J.M. Woodson (1868-1930), Dr. R.T. Wilson (1884-1965), Walter R. Humphrey (1904-1971). The first Y.M.C.A. building burned in 1934 but was rebuilt the next year. In 1942, the facilities were given to the USO. (1975)