WCA Boarding House

The WCA Boarding House at 19 Bliss Street in Springfield is a three-story brick residential building in the Eastlake/Queen Anne style, built in 1884 by the Women's Christian Association (predecessor of the YWCA) to house young working women. It features corbelled brick piers, a patterned brick cornice, and a one-story wooden porch with Eastlake-type turned supports; the upper porch levels were removed in the 1950s. Constructed to house 35 boarders and provide a refined home and Christian influence for working girls drawn to the city's expanding commercial economy, it was sold in 1910 and acquired in 1962 by the Springfield Rescue Mission. It is significant under criteria A and C for its associations with social and humanitarian organizations and as a fine local example of the Queen Anne style.

WCA Boarding House is a landmark in Springfield, Hampden County. It is one of 3,654 landmarks documented in Hampden County, among 3,815 historic sites cataloged across the county on MassRoam.

The site sits at 42.0998, -72.5867 near Springfield. The nearest cataloged historic site is French Congregational Church (landmark), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Y. W. C. A. Building, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, and United Electric Company Building.

This record is drawn from public historical records. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.