{"nrhp_refnum":"76001501","name":"Women's Christian Association","other_names":["Women's Christian Association No. 2","W.c.a."],"category":"building","location":{"address":"800 W. 5th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Dayton","county":"Montgomery County","state":"OH","lat":39.75330112700004,"lon":-84.20763263699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-05-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Black","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story late nineteenth century frame building at 800 West Fifth Street, at the southwest corner of Fifth and Horace Streets in Dayton, Ohio, built between about 1895 and 1909 and used as the Women's Christian Association headquarters.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant for its history rather than its architecture. It represents efforts by Black community leaders in Dayton to provide social services and maintain civic morale when the Y.W.C.A. excluded Black women. It served as a social center, a residence for working girls, and a hub for charitable support of Black troops in World War I.","narrative":"At the corner of Fifth and Horace Streets in Dayton, a modest two-story frame building with novelty siding and a five-bay facade once served as headquarters of the Women's Christian Association. Black women organized the group in 1889, incorporated it in March 1909, and bought the building that May. They formed it because the local Y.W.C.A. denied Black young women access to its facilities. The building became a focus of social activity in a segregated neighborhood, offering recreation and reasonably priced rooms for working girls. During World War I it was the center of charitable efforts supporting Black troops, supplying comforts and news from home. In 1918 it was leased to the Y.W.C.A. for a dollar a year while that organization extended services to the Black community. The Y.W.C.A. built its own center in 1924, and the association's mission was largely overtaken. The building has been closed since 1973 and is deteriorating.","period_of_significance":"1895-1909","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular","criteria":[],"status_note":"Deteriorating condition; the association's doors have been closed since 1973.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:10.033443-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/76001501.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71990603","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/montgomery-county/womens-christian-association-76001501/"}