The Pennwood Club formed in 1904. They considered having the Singer home as a meeting place. In 1905 they had clubrooms at the Carl building, now the Shield’s building at 822 Wood St. on the corner with Ross St. The Shields building is called the first skyscraper in Wilkinsburg.
The Pittsburgh Bulletin in October of 1905 reported,
The first annual meeting of the members of the Pennwood Club of Wilkinsburg was held Tuesday night, at which Mr. A. W. Pollock, president of the Dollar Savings Bank; Dr. S. L. McCurdy, E. C. Weaver, of Weaver-Costello & Co.; Ira C. Ewing, of the Modern Heating Company, and Philip Buchbinder, of Buchbinder & Schwamp, were elected governors to serve for the ensuing three years.
The reports of the board of governors, secretary and treasurer showed the Club to be in a flourishing condition. It owns property in Ross avenue, Wilkinsburg, valued at $10,000, on which a fine new club house, costing from $20,000 to $25,000 is now being erected. The club house will probably be completed early in the spring. The membership, which is limited to 200, is rapidly filling up and the outlook for the future is propitious.
The club completed the Georgian style building at 742 Ross St. in 1906. They hosted social events.
The Index in February of 1907 recorded a meeting and an upcoming concert.
The Woman’s Club of Wilkinsburg met in the parlors of the Pennwood Club on Tuesday and presented a Lincoln program. The club is putting a copy of the Ten Commandments in each school room in the borough. Last year the committee placed in each room a framed copy of some famous painting.
The Pittsburgh Press in 1912 described a dance, “One hundred and fifty guests will be entertained this evening by Mr. and Mrs. Orvis C. Yingling, of Singer pl., Wilkinsburg, at a dance in the Pennwood club. The club dining-room will be decorated in pink Killarney roses and Marie le Grey lilacs, while eibodium ferns and cocus palms will adorn the ballroom.”
The South Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church burned down on Saturday, February 23, 1907. The Pennwood Club was among the groups that came forward to offer their building. The church Sunday services met there for fourteen months.
In 1916, The Pennwood Club closed and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks bought the building.
The YWCA purchased the building in 1946.
The Wilkinsburg Baptist Church burned down on February 26, 2955. For two years the congregation met at the YWCA.
Bridge Housing, a transitional housing program for women and the first in the United States, opened at the YWCA in 1989. Women could stay up to two years while working with the staff to become self-sufficient and find permanent housing. In 2007 the program moved to a “scattered site model” and more recently to working through Allegheny Link.
Strength Inc. acquired the building on August 29, 2008.
Gethsemane Ministries purchased the building on June 16, 2014. The Gethsemane congregation continues to work hard, repairing and renovating the building room by room, and offering a friendly welcome.
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“Pennwood Club’s Reception,” The Pittsburgh Press, February 17, 1905, p. 12.
Pittsburgh Bulletin, October 7, 1905, p. 2.
The Index, February 16, 1907, p. 12.
The Index, February 23, 1907.
“To Give A Large Dance”, The Pittsburgh Press, January 26, 1912, p. 18.
Magdeline Jensen “The Next Page: YWCA | Still on mission, For more than 150 years, the YWCA has blazed trails for women in Pittsburgh and around the country,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 18, 2018.
https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2018/03/18/The-Next-Page-YWCA-women-Pittsburgh-United-States-Magdeline-Jensen/stories/201804080002