The Moses Block and Bath’s First YMCA Home

On Bath’s Front Street, the brick façade of the Moses Block holds a clue to a life that once unfolded inside it. Near the entrance, a small plaque dedicates the building to Bath’s young men. It recalls the years when this was home to the city’s YMCA, a place for learning, recreation, and companionship in a busy shipbuilding city.

Bath’s YMCA began in 1856 with meetings at the Central Church. In its early years, members gathered in borrowed spaces for Bible classes, lectures, debates, and readings. As the organization grew, it needed rooms of its own. A fire destroyed the earlier Columbia Block in 1893, and the replacement was planned with substantial space for the YMCA. Galen C. Moses, who had also helped make Bath’s library free to the public, contributed $50,000 toward the YMCA portion of the new building. The organization moved in during 1894.

What happened inside changed with Bath itself. Young people played basketball there before the high school had a gym. During World War I, when shipbuilding drew workers into the city, part of the building provided lodging for workers and seamen. During World War II, the USO used some of its space. Over the decades, the YMCA added activities ranging from bowling and swimming to clubs and community programs.

The YMCA moved to a larger home on Centre Street in 2001, but the old building retained its place on Front Street. Its shops, upper floors, brickwork, and dedication plaque preserve traces of a time when the block was a center of daily life for generations of Bath residents. Like the Patten Free Library, the Moses Block tells a story about what Galen Moses chose to give his city, and about all the people who found a place within that gift.