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The YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association), emphasizing mind, body, spirit, was founded in London in 1844. The first associations in North America were organized in 1851. Five years later, the YMCA came to Columbus, GA on November 18, 1856. The YMCA began in Columbus when a committee consisting of P.H. Colquitt, William Gesner, and S. Boykin, calling themselves "the Committee of the Young Men's Christian Association," invited young men of Columbus to an organizational meeting. Two months later, the association had 30 members and grew to 70 members by July 1857. The meetings were held in various churches and around Columbus. The first president was W.C. Hodges. By May 1859, the YMCA activities were conducted at 89 Broad St. above the Redd-Johnson Dry Goods Company in the central part of the city. J.S. Pemberton, the inventor of the Coca-Cola formula, was president. The outbreak of the Civil War disrupted the work of the YMCA. The association was re-established in 1883 with R. J. Clark as president. At that time, the YMCA was located at 1011 Broad St. above the Max Cohn Store. In 1888, the "Hock Strausser" corner, later known as the Ralph Howard Drug Store corner, 11th and Broad St., became the scene of the YMCA activities. While at this location, the physical department was added to the religious and social activities. In a letter dated September 20, 1901, philanthropist George Foster Peabody makes the following proposal to then YMCA President J.A. Kirven: ...."I beg now, upon behalf of my brothers (Roy Confield Peabody and Charles Jones Peabody) and myself to formally confirm our offer to erect a building to cost not less than $35,000 suitable for occupancy by the YMCA and to be placed upon a lot of ground to be provided and deeded to the association by other friends, free of lien. This offer is conditioned upon the purchase and payment for this land, and upon the raising of as much as $10,000 in cash to be invested and held by the trustees of the association for an endowment fund."
