Y.M.C.A. (Anthony Bowen Branch)
Known Name(s)
Y.M.C.A. (Anthony Bowen Branch)
Address
1816 12th St. NW Washington, DC
Establishment Type(s)
Hotel
Physical Status
Extant
Description
The building stands on the east side of 12th Street at T St., NW, and is a four-story red brick building with quoins on a high raised basement.
Detailed History
The 12th Street or Anthony Bowen YMCA opened in 1853, and was the first African American YMCA chapter founded by Anthony Bowen (1809-1871. Bowen was a civic leader in Washington and also the first AFrican American hired at the U.S. Patent Office. The building, which included a public restaurant, was designed in 1912 by William Sidney Pittman, an early African American architect.The YMCA is listed as a hotel because it rented some rooms on a nightly/weekly basis, but also housed permanent residents. It is considered to be in the "U Street Corridor" in the Shaw/Cardozo neighborhoods. See https://www.ymcadc.org/history-of-ymca-anthony-bowen/ for additional information.
