The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Pikes Peak Region has a rich history. The first Boys Club of America had its beginnings in 1860, when several women in Hartford, Connecticut decided that boys who roamed the streets should have a positive alternative, so they organized the first Club.
Originally founded as the Ernest Whitney Boys Club in 1888, The Boys & Girls Club of the Pikes Peak Region began as the oldest Boys Club west of the Mississippi River and the eighth oldest Club in the world. It was formally chartered in 1896. Interestingly, at the time, the mission of the Club was "to care for and promote the moral, mental, and physical well-being of boys in and around Colorado Springs - and to remove them from temptation and demoralizing influences."
In 1898, a charity ball raised an initial $170 for a building fund. General William H. Palmer, founder of Colorado Springs, contributed a lot at the corner of Tejon and Rio Grande Streets in 1900. On October 10, 1907, the original Boys Club building was opened. Funds provided by the El Pomar Foundation, permitted enlargement of the facility to its present size. Although it no longer serves as a Boys & Girls Club, the structure is still in use today.
By the mid-sixties a second Boys Club was needed. The El Pomar Foundation again provided expansion funds. In 1968 ground was broken for a new facility, named the El Pomar Club, and was opened February 1970.
The Central Unit, located at 605 South Tejon, and the Administrative Office at 105 East Moreno were closed April 29, 1984 and were replaced by the opening of the new Eleanor Armit Tutt Club on June 3, 1984.
In 1987, the Boys Club of Colorado Springs became the first Boys Club in Colorado to become chartered as the Boys & Girls Club of the Pikes Peak Region.
Currently the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Pikes Peak Region today serves over 2,500 youth on an annual basis.
