This is the longtime location of the Colorado Springs Boys’ Club. The club was organized in 1892-93 by Ernest Whitney, a Yale teacher who had come to the city for his health. The purpose of the club was to keep boys “off the streets, entertaining and improving them.” When Mr. Whitney’s health worsened, the local branch of an international charitable organization, the King’s Daughters, took over the cause. The group’s leader, Elizabeth Goddard, became the first president of Boys’ Club Association in 1896. The group acquired a building on South Tejon and the boys met once a week on Friday evenings. Soon the club was meeting six days a week, with lessons in using tools (known as “sloyd”) and military tactics. Some girls’ classes were also provided. The early board of directors were all women (members of the King’s Daughters). In 1912 the national office of the Boys’ Clubs of America reportedly visited Colorado Springs and was “horrified” to learn this, resulting in changes to the composition of the Board.

The Colorado Springs club was older than the national organization of Boys’ Clubs. It was one of the first clubs of its kind started in the United States (the second or third founded). For many years, the Colorado Springs club was the only such organization west of the Mississippi River. As the organization grew, a building fund was established and the association purchased a lot on South Tejon street. In 1899 F.R. Hastings drew plans for a club building. About 1907, R.P. Davie donated an adjacent lot to the north. A building was completed on this site in October 1907. The membership of the organization then expanded rapidly. In 1910 Mr. and Mrs. Spencer Penrose donated a brick gymnasium erected at the rear at a cost of $5,000.

During the 1930s the Boys’ Club was the site of a daily recreational program for unemployed men. The building was open for gymnasium sports and the use of the library. Activities were free for the unemployed.

In 1938 the Boys’ Club received a large anonymous donation which permitted doubling the size of the building. The gymnasium would be enlarged as well as the workrooms, library, and baths and the new structure would completely surround the old building.
Colorado Springs Architect Edward L. Bunts designed the new building with a nod to the materials of the existing Day Nursery. Ground for the new construction was broken in March 1938, with completion in August 1938. The club was called a “beautiful new building” and the lure of the new building, one of the most attractive in the state, would build up the largest membership in the history of the club.

The building continued to serve the larger community. During World War II an air squadron was billeted here and the boys moved to temporary quarters for their activities. In November 1942 African-American boys were allowed in the club for the first time on Saturday afternoons. The boys had access to the shop and gym facilities, with plans to expand their use of the building in the future. By 1958 the Veterans’ Service Office was listed at this address.

Today, the building maintains substantial historic physical integrity.