On March 16, 1866, the first meeting of the newly formed Williamsport YMCA was held at the county courthouse. For the next 125 years, the YMCA in Williamsport served the community, changing with the times to meet different community needs.
For many years, the Williamsport YMCA, Jersey Shore Area YMCA, Bradford County YMCAs were all separate “independent” YMCAs that had a cordial yet competitive relationship. Traditionally, the smaller YMCAs struggled to maintain their bottom lines while the well established Williamsport YMCA grew larger and stronger over the years. This was due to a number of factors, not the least of which was the fact that the Williamsport YMCA served a higher population.
In 2004, the YMCA of the USA approached the Williamsport YMCA to help the struggling Bradford County YMCA, located in Towanda. The Board of Directors agreed that it was the duty of the Y to help neighboring Y-organizations. Later that year, the Bradford County YMCA officially became a “branch” of the association, ie: The Bradford County Branch YMCA, a subsidiary of the Williamsport YMCA
At the same time, a group of citizens in the eastern part of Lycoming County had organized an effort to create recreation opportunities. Eventually, the group approached the Williamsport YMCA volunteers to see if combined efforts might lead to a future Y-branch that could serve the eastern part of the county. The Y-volunteers agreed that this eastern branch was worthy of pursuing, but that the current business model would need to be changed. So, at the YMCA Annual Meeting in 2006, the River Valley Regional YMCA was established through a new set of By Laws that enabled the newly formed entity to have multiple branches with opportunities for both branch volunteers and board members. The Williamsport YMCA was now the Williamsport Branch YMCA, with the same powers and authorities as other branches. On October 16, 2008, after years of effort to raise the funds required, the new Eastern Lycoming Branch YMCA had a grand opening celebration and opened its doors in Muncy, Pennsylvania, becoming the third branch of the River Valley Regional YMCA.
In the midst of the above, the Jersey Shore YMCA, located in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, continued to struggle financially. The YMCA of the USA had strongly urged the YMCA volunteers to take a serious look at becoming a branch of the River Valley Regional YMCA. In June 2007, both YMCAs entered into discussions. On January 1, 2008, the Jersey Shore Branch YMCA was established. The Jersey Shore Branch YMCA became the fourth branch of the River Valley Regional YMCA.
When the new Eastern Lycoming Branch YMCA opened in 2008, it received a great deal of positive press from the Sun Gazette newspaper. Civic leaders in Mansfield, Pennsylvania took great interest in this as they too were seeking recreational opportunities. On September 9, 2010, the Y and the civic leaders held a public meeting at the armory, where the idea of forming a YMCA Branch using the armory received overwhelming support. Soon after, the Tioga County Branch YMCA opened its doors as the fifth branch of the River Valley Regional YMCA.
In June of 2017 the RVR Y entered into a management agreement with the Lock Haven Family YMCA to help guide them through a transition period through sharing resources. The Lock Haven YMCA became the 6th branch of the River Valley Regional YMCA on July 1st, 2019.
