W C A Boarding House

The W C A Boarding House was located on the east side of Bliss Street, a right-of-way that formerly ran between Main Street and East Columbus Avenue, roughly dividing the area developed for the MGM casino. It was a three-story brick building with a flat roof. It was a stylistically restrained version of Queen Anne architecture, with some patterned brickwork and corbelled brick piers between the window bays. Windows were originally set in segmented-arch openings, and the building at one time sported a three-story Eastlake-style wooden porch.^[3]

The building was built in 1884 by the Women's Christian Association (WCA), a social welfare organization that was a predecessor to the Young Women's Christian Association. The architects were Richmond & Seabury, and the builder was C. H. Scott, both of Springfield.^[4]

The building was used by the WCA as a space for boarding respectable working-class single women. With the construction of a new facility in 1910, the property was operated as a private boarding house. From 1962 the building housed the Springfield Rescue Mission, a social welfare agency.^[3] It was demolished about 2012.

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Springfield, Massachusetts
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Hampden County, Massachusetts