The Dorchester Woman’s Club, which was incorporated in 1896, promoted moral, social and intellectual culture in the community. The group began in 1892 at the home of Mrs. Clara May Ripley, and by its third meeting, was so popular that the group had to meet in a church. The membership continued to increase, and in 1896, Harriet E Bean, Ella C. R. Whiton, Ellen E. C. Blair, and their associates submitted the articles of incorporation. The Club soon had gathered the money to build a clubhouse on Centre Street. In 1897, the Club purchased a lot on Centre Street and hired A. Warren Gould, a local architect to design their new home.
Designed by local architect, A. Warren Gould, in the Colonial Revival-style with other influences, it was built in 1898. The cornice is reminiscent of the Gothic-revival style, but the corner quoins and cylindrical bay windows are more reminiscent of Colonial-revival designs.
The left side of the building was called Ripley Hall in honor of the founder, and the right hand side of the building, was named Whiton Hall, for Ella Whiton of Melville Avenue, wife of Royal Whiton, a retired railway official. Mrs. Whiton was very efficient in securing the building of the beautiful club-house of the Dorchester Woman’s Club House Association — of which association she became president. She was also a charter member of the Dorchester Woman’s Club and filled the position of treasurer for the Club for five years.
Classes for improvement in the early years included a choral class and a local history class that embraced the history of Dorchester from its settlement in 1630 through the Revolution. The group established and maintained sixteen programs per year intended to be stimulating to the thought, the sympathies, or the artistic sense of the attending members (and at times catering to their palates as well, “since even women grow wondrous open-hearted over their teacups.”
The Club lasted into the 1960s.
The building is currently owned by the New Life Restoration Temple, Inc.