Green Bay's Tudor Revival Y and Its Fifth-Floor History
235 N Jefferson St, Green Bay, WI 54301
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
YMCA membership or day-pass required for building access. Check greenbayymca.org for current rates.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved urban sidewalks and building interior. Multi-story elevator access.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1924 · Tudor Revival Architecture · Green Bay Industrial Era · Downtown Green Bay History
The building at 235 N Jefferson Street in downtown Green Bay was constructed in 1924 at the peak of the city's paper manufacturing industry — the economic engine that built Green Bay into a regional center in the early twentieth century. The six-story Tudor Revival structure served from its earliest years as both a civic hub and residential facility, offering housing programs that allowed residents to live within the building's upper floors.
It was during the residential housing era that the building became connected to a violent incident. Two young men living in a housing program offered by the YMCA were murdered by another tenant on the fifth floor. The specific date and perpetrator are referenced in Green Bay ghost tour materials, though detailed court records have not been independently verified in available public sources.
The building underwent a significant $13 million renovation, designed by Berners-Schober Associates, that modernized the facility's infrastructure while preserving the Tudor Revival exterior and the building's role as a downtown community center. The renovation was intended to secure the building's future and position its upper floors for potential lease use. The Greater Green Bay YMCA continues to operate the facility as the Ferguson Family YMCA.
The building has been included in Green Bay's ghost tour circuit, which documents the history of the downtown core's older structures.
Sources
The paranormal lore of the Ferguson Family YMCA is rooted in a specific documented act: two members of the building's residential housing program were murdered by another tenant. The incident is dated to the period when the YMCA actively housed residents in its upper floors, a common YMCA function in urban centers during the mid-twentieth century.
The fifth floor is the location most commonly cited. Green Bay ghost tour accounts describe the two victims as remaining associated with the building's upper levels — accounts that surface them as presences in the top floors of the structure rather than appearing in more visible public spaces.
The building's renovation history adds an architectural layer to the accounts. The $13 million modernization changed the interior configuration, and paranormal accounts sometimes note that structural changes do not resolve reported phenomena associated with violent deaths in a location.
The Downtown YMCA is a regularly featured stop on the Green Bay ghost tour operated by US Ghost Adventures, which documents the building's history alongside other locations in Green Bay's historic downtown core.
The Ferguson Family YMCA is an active fitness and community center in downtown Green Bay. The 1924 six-story Tudor Revival building has undergone a $13 million renovation. Membership or day-pass allows access to facilities. The fifth floor, cited in paranormal accounts as the site of the double homicide, is part of the building's upper floors.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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