YWCA Building on Clinch & Walnut LR

This vintage postcard, shared by Cindy and Mark Proteau, shows the YWCA building on the corner of Clinch Avenue and Walnut Street. Completed in 1925, the new building replaced a former doctor’s house, which originally served as the organization’s headquarters. According to research by historian, Laura Still, a cornerstone was laid containing a history of the local YWCA, related newspaper articles, a pamphlet about the proposed Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a list of 300 building workers, and on the top, an open Bible. An inscription clearly visible on the building reads, “DEDICATED TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND THE SERVICE OF WOMANHOOD, 1925.” Its star turn came in 1999, when its lobby appeared in the major motion picture October Sky, starring a young Jake Gyllenhaal. It portrayed a hotel in Indianapolis.