Keys to History

The first Young Men's Christian Association in North America was established in Montreal in 1851 by a group of young men who opened a reading room at the Oddfellows' Hall on St. James Street, organized lectures and hired a missionary to work with the poor. In 1873, to accommodate increased enrollment and expanded activities, a four-storey building was built overlooking Victoria Square. The picture above represents the boardroom, in that building. In 1890 a move was made to a lager building on Dominion Square, which for the first time included a gymnasium, and in 1912 the Y.M.C.A. moved to its present location on Drummond Street.