History of the Clark Memorial YMCA

Wendell Phillips Clark was born in 1842 to George P. and Martha Bartlett Clark.

Wendell and his father George began their own chair making business in 1872 in a three story building located in Centerville (Winchendon). Centerville lies on River Street between the foot of Tannery Hill and the Whitney Memorial bridge.

Around 1873, Mr. Beals entered into a partnership with Mr. Clark under the firm name of Wendell P. Clark and Company. These two good friends and business associates were later to leave a lasting legacy to the Town of Winchendon in the form of the Beals Memorial Library and the Wendell P. Clark Memorial.

On January 1, 1887 Wendell married a Winchendon school teacher, Mary Elizabeth Cummings. Wendell and his wife lived at 110 Summer Street throughout their married life. The couple had no children. It was during this period of his life that Wendell P. Clark's historic chair manufacturing business was very successful. Clark & Company was sold to McColley and Brown who continued its operation until 1913.

Wendell P. Clark possessed a love for community and a deep sense of commitment to the future welfare of this town, both then, and for future generations to come, by desiring to build a recreational facility for all of the people of Winchendon. Accordingly, Wendell P. Clark provided for such a facility for the Town of Winchendon in his last will and testament.

Mr. Clark left the remainder of his estate, estimated at the time of his death to be $230,000, to George C. Beals, Zadoc Long White and Walter Boyce, all of Winchendon, to serve as trustees. Through his will, he directed the trustees "to buy land and erect a building in Winchendon as a community house for the people of the town, and to create a fund for its support. The building is to be known as the 'Wendell P. Clark Memorial.'" He also stated that they (the trustees) may "deem it advisable" to establish a branch of the Y.M.C.A. in town instead of a community house. In anticipation of these directives the lot at the corner of Central and Summer Streets was purchased from the Town of Winchendon for $1 in 1921.

By 1946, the estate of Wendell P. Clark was appraised at $970,000, and the new appointed Trustees were John H. Welch, Dudley H. Dorr and Carl A. Tornquist. A number of factors contributed to a delay in the construction of the Clark Memorial; World War II, the lack of materials, and pending litigation between the heirs of the Clark Estate and the Trustees. Following the end of the court hearings, the Trustees established a charitable corporation to carry forward the construction of the long awaited recreational facility. The first Board of Directors of this newly founded non-profit organization included the following: Elliott D. May, Frederick F. Davis, James J. Hunt, Ernest J. Dionne and Dr. Alton B. Skelton.

The Boys' Club building, which has served the Town of Winchendon's youth and young adults for so many years, was razed in 1953 to make room for the construction of the Wendell P. Clark Memorial. Construction of the building began on March 12, 1953, when Frederick Davis, Board President took the first shovel of earth from the site that soon would be the facility that Wendell P. Clark envisioned for the townspeople of Winchendon.

The formal dedication of the Clark Memorial took place on September 16, 1954 with an estimated 1200 people in attendance. With music provided by the Murdock High School Band, the formal ceremony included an invocation, a welcome address, and words of gratitude from the chairman of the Winchendon Board of Selectman. Lieutenant-Governor Sumner G. Whittier gave the dedication address, following the benediction of the building by Rev. Wilfred A. Tisdell.

The generosity and civic pride of Wendell Phillips Clark will be shared with all the residents of Winchendon and surrounding towns for generations to come. Such a remarkable sense of community should not soon be forgotten.