A couple weeks ago I had the privilege of attending the Selma Dallas County Historic Preservation Society’s annual membership meeting. I was excited to learn more about the history of this new place I call home. And I learned something very interesting— that Selma is home to the oldest YMCA in the South. Or at least Selma was home to the oldest YMCA in the South.

The building on Broad Street today is barely recognizable once you have seen a photo of the original place. The old building was the pride of Selma in its heyday back in the late 1880s. With its large, mansard roof and beautiful architectural detail, the old building did not boast the trappings of hardship in the South after the Civil War (though it surely does now.) Instead it had all of the glory of a Eurpoean city like downtown Vienna, Austria but situated on Selma’s Broad Street.

When I heard Linda Derry of Cahawba Genealogical and Historical Society present the history of the YMCA building, my immediate reaction was to assume that back then the people of Selma had plenty of funds to create such a building. They probably were not faced with tough financial difficulties like we are presently. But like with most things I assume, I was wrong. The YMCA was built entirely with community donations. Everybody gave what he or she could so that the town would have something to be proud of. Even though the YMCA is a Christian organization, Jewish residents contributed to the cause in order to better the general welfare of the town. A wealthy carriage dealer donated what would be $110,000 in today’s economy while working class blue-collar residents gave what would now be $550. It seems like everyone felt led to give because it was for the greater good of the town.

Nancy Bennett, President of Selma Dallas County Historic Preservation Society is urging everyone to give, “nickels, dimes and dollars.” Sure, there are many causes to donate to that are pressing heavily on us, like our education and healthcare, but this is a building that sets Selma apart from every town in the U.S. It has rich character and diverse history. It housed two widows and their confectionary. It was even occupied by a Chinese man Chung Kee who ran a Chinese Laundry at one point. It also housed the Booker T. Washington Insurance Company in its northernmost office.

Even being new in town, the historical building feels like a building that, if it were lost, a huge part of Selma would be lost as well. People are always talking to me about the “potential of Selma,” and I wasn’t sure what they were talking about until I heard the story of the old YMCA. This building has the potential to bring people together, educate others and preserve a huge part of our town’s history that is slowly dissapearing due to lack of funding. For more information visit www.historicselma.org