{"nrhp_refnum":"04000119","name":"YWCA Boston","other_names":["Boston YWCA"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"140 Clarendon St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.35036329500008,"lon":-71.07535532099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-03-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A thirteen-story brick and limestone Neo-Classical Revival building at 140 Clarendon Street in Boston's Back Bay, at the corner of Clarendon and Stuart Streets. It was built in 1929 as the Boston YWCA headquarters, designed by Shepard & Stearns.","why_significant":"The building is tied to the history of the YWCA, whose Boston branch was the first official YWCA in the country, dating to 1866. It is a 'combination building' that put residences, a pool, a gymnasium, classrooms and offices under one roof. Its classical design and monumentality represent the early 20th-century trend of YWCA buildings being erected as institutional monuments.","narrative":"Rising thirteen stories at the corner of Clarendon and Stuart Streets in Boston's Back Bay, this brick and limestone building opened in 1929 as the headquarters of the Boston YWCA. Shepard & Stearns designed it in a Neo-Classical Revival manner, with an arched limestone entry porch, engaged columns, rosettes, dentil cornices and carved swags. Inside, it combined a swimming pool, gymnasium, bowling alleys, auditorium, classrooms, offices and residential floors for working women and transient guests. The Boston YWCA was the first official YWCA in the country, founded in 1866, and the building reflects the organization's growth and its move toward a more inclusive, secular membership. The project cost about $1.6 million and was funded through a public campaign. Later changes include a 1978 renovation, an altered Stuart Street entrance and new tenants, but the gymnasium and main staircase remain largely original. The building is significant for its social history and its classical design.","period_of_significance":"1929-1953","architect_builder":"Shepard, George E. & Frederic Stearns (architects); Root, Henry (builder)","architectural_style":"Late 19th-20th Century Revival: Neo-Classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used by the YWCA, with a restaurant, a theatre company, non-profit tenants and apartments; interior partly altered, notably in the 1970s and 1991.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.031593-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/10/7970/63797010/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/04000119.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000119/bcfb5a6c07-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000119/bcfb5a6c07-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:YWCA_on_Clarendon_Street,_Boston_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:YWCA_on_Clarendon_Street,_Boston_MA.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"73001948","name":"Back Bay Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/back-bay-historic-district-73001948/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797010","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YWCA_Boston_building_(Clarendon_Street)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8046070"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/ywca-boston-04000119/"}