Former Site of Y.M.C.A.
Temple, Bell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
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)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1898 the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad chartered a YMCA in Temple and built a three-story hall the next year to lodge and entertain its railway workers. The "Y" also opened its doors to townspeople and pioneered youth athletics before fire destroyed the original building in 1934. Rebuilt and then handed to the USO in 1942, it served the community through war and peace.
Why it matters
Railroad YMCAs were a distinctive American institution, giving a rootless workforce a wholesome home away from home in booming rail towns.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
City of Temple
Temple, TX
Founded in 1881 on the Santa Fe line and named for railroad official B. M. Temple, the town began with a barbecue-fueled town-lot sale and a rough early reputation — muddy streets, saloons, and the nickname "Tanglefoot." As a Santa Fe division point and junction with other lines, it grew quickly, established public schools by 1884, and later became a major medical center anchored by the Santa Fe, King's Daughters, Scott & White, and veterans' hospitals.
Santa Fe Memorial Hospital, Inc.
Temple, TX
Opened in 1891 for workers of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad, this was the first hospital in Temple, its present building's oldest section dating to 1908. For decades the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word provided the nursing care. Early staff physicians A. C. Scott and R. R. White went on to found the renowned Scott and White Clinic, giving Temple a lasting reputation as a medical center.
Missouri, Kansas & Texas (Katy) Railroad Bridge
Belton, TX
When the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad bypassed Belton in 1881, townspeople refused to be left off the map and arranged for a spur into the city. The Katy Railroad arrived in 1882, bridging the Leon River and turning Belton into a shipping hub for Central Texas cotton growers. Around 1900 the line replaced its earlier wooden trestles with this riveted-steel Parker truss, a workmanlike specimen of early 20th-century bridge engineering still standing over the river.
Site of Childers-Shanklin Mill
Belton, TX
Robert Childers, a pioneer settler and veteran of the 1836 Army of Texas, built the first water-powered mill in Bell County here in 1847. Sold in 1856 to G. W. Shanklin, who was said to have built the best water race in Texas, the site also served as a stage stand on the Old Military Road and a crossing point for cattle bound up the trail. It was a hub where settlement, commerce, and travel converged on the early Texas frontier.