The Fenwick Club was a historic building in downtown

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

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, which was constructed to serve a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

social organization for unmarried men. Although named a

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been re ...

in the 1970s because of its architecture, it is no longer standing. Founded in 1915, the Fenwick Club was organized to serve unmarried Catholic men under the age of 40 by providing them with space for cultural and social activities, as well as lodging space. It was named for

Edward Fenwick Edward Dominic Fenwick, (August 19, 1768 – September 26, 1832) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church, a Dominican friar and the first Bishop of Cincinnati. Early life Edward Fenwick was born August 19, 1768 on the family plantati ...

, the first Bishop of Cincinnati and the founder of the Dominicans in the United States.''Cincinnati: A Guide to the Queen City and Its Neighbors''. ''

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''.

: Wiesen-Hart, 1943, 194. The institution was meant to provide a Catholic alternative to

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

, due to heavy Protestant influence in YMCA, so it included components similar to a YMCA, including a library, sports facilities, and living space, and it sponsored social events for the residents.Chudacoff, Howard P. ''The Age of the Bachelor: Creating an American Subculture''.

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, 2000, 165-166. The club initially used space at 319 Broadway, and although it soon completed a building on Commercial Square, rapid growth forced the leaders to buy an adjacent lot in order to construct an annex building in 1921, just four years after their first building was constructed. After the building was constructed, a Catholic chapel was built next door: this building, the Chapel of the Holy Spirit, was constructed in 1927. The institution's primary building was nine

stories Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

tall, built of brick with details of stone and

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta i ...

, while the annex was just three stories tall. The structure was also built of brick, resting on a stone foundation and detailed with elements of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

and iron. The facade included two dormer windows in its steeply pitched front roof. The facade was divided into five

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

, topped with miniature gables on the end and middle bays and a dormer in the other two; windows filled all bays except for the central, which included a columned main entrance on the first floor and a small balcony on the second. In 1973, the Fenwick Club's annex building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

, becoming the seventh downtown building with this distinction; it qualified both because of its historically significant architecture and because of its place in local history. Despite its status as a historic site, the building was destroyed in 1979: it sat near

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

headquarters, and as the company was looking to expand its office complex, several neighboring buildings were removed. Besides the Fenwick Club, the project resulted in the destruction of Wesley Chapel, Allen Temple AME Church, and the adjacent Catholic chapel.Fenwick Club

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

, n.d. Accessed 2014-01-05. Although destroyed more than thirty years ago, the annex building officially remains on the National Register.

References

{{Catholic laity 1915 establishments in Ohio Christian organizations established in 1915 Buildings and structures completed in 1921 Catholic youth organizations Clubhouses in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Cincinnati Catholic lay organisations Catholic organizations established in the 20th century Victorian architecture in Ohio Xavier Musketeers basketball venues