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The Marstons: A California Family - Part 11
Muscular Young Men - The Birth of the San Diego YMCA
By Robin Lakin
March/April 2024
 The YMCA renovated and installed its sign above the Victorian entrance to the former George Phillips and Harriett Marston House at 1115 Eighth Avenue, later the Dr. John and Lilla (Marston) Burnham House. The YMCA purchased it from the Burnhams in 1907. Courtesy SDHC |
 A 1951 postcard shows the YMCA building at Eighth and C Streets, mailed by YMCA resident Joseph A. Savastio. Decades earlier, George Phillips Marston planted the pepper trees alongside what was then his home. Courtesy Digital Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
 On the back of the 1951 postcard, Joe Savastio described the San Diego Y’s amenities to his brother Leo, who received it back home in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania. Courtesy Digital Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
 High school photo of the future Dr. Joseph A. Savastio (1931-2012), a San Diego YMCA resident and sender of the postcard above. Courtesy Ancestry.com |
 A boxing match c. 1918 in the YMCA’s state-of-the-art gymnasium at Eighth Avenue and C Street. Courtesy Calisphere |
In 1881, George Marston’s only son, Arthur Hamilton Marston, was born in a city where wholesome activities for youth were sorely lacking. In San Diego, saloons and bawdy houses outnumbered grocery stores.
George was introduced to the Young Men’s Christian Association during his freshman year at the University of Michigan, where students had organized a chapter in 1868, the year prior to his arrival. The Y, as it is now known, was originally established in London by George Williams in 1844; its triangular mission of improving spirit, mind, and body was brought to America by Thomas Valentine Sullivan in 1851.
When Arthur was barely seven months old, George organized the San Diego YMCA chapter on April 27, 1882, to provide opportunities for young men. He launched it from his office at the Marston Store at Fifth Avenue and F Street, and served on the board for 62 years and as president for 22 years.
Originally offering gospel meetings, socials and diverse entertainments and opportunities were soon added. The San Diego Union’s April 24, 1890 edition ran an article sporting the enticing title, “Muscular Young Men,” about a successful Y social featuring comedic entertainment.
In 1905, the Y bought the home of George Marston’s parents at Eighth Avenue and C Street, where the organization remained for 76 years. The chapter’s leaders altered the house to serve its new purpose and constructed a gymnasium behind it. This facility was torn down in 1912 to make way for its replacement: a six-story, state-of-the-art building with an auditorium, classrooms, 65 residential rooms, showers, a three-story gymnasium, and a swimming pool, constructed in 1913. Also new was sports equipment that boys as young as age 14 could enjoy. (In 1924, another YMCA building, now a boutique hotel, was established for military personnel on Broadway.)
The Y offered courses in mathematics, bookkeeping, English, Spanish, penmanship, stenography, mechanical drawing, commerce law, philosophy, singing, and first aid. Men could get physical examinations, and make use of hobby and reading rooms, religious meetings, and activities held on- and off-site, such as hiking, boating, football, hockey, gymnastics, swimming, tennis, and handball.
In the 1890s, volleyball and basketball had been invented specifically for the Y program. San Diego’s young women were playing both sports when George’s daughter Elizabeth helped found the local YWCA in 1907.
At the YMCA’s 1944 Centennial, George spoke about the organization’s progress: “It was my privilege to help organize the San Diego Association in 1882—62 years ago…The little acorn planted by Sir George Williams has grown into a mighty tree—a tree of life and healing throughout the wide world.”
In 2020, the San Diego YMCA paid tribute to George’s generous involvement with some generosity of their own: The group is a sponsor of SOHO’s ongoing online exhibit The Marston Legacy: Progress and Preservation at the Marston House Museum.
Read the rest of the ongoing The Marstons: A California Story History Series.
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