What's going on at the historic Odd Fellows Building in downtown Ellettsville?

ELLETTSVILLE — It’s been decades since members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows converged for meetings in the downtown Ellettsville building that was home to Lodge 298 dating back to the 1880s.

Once-thriving service organizations on the small-town circuit like this one are fading away. But they leave a legacy, and Lodge 298’s is being rediscovered and revitalized as the downtown anchor it once was.

Lodge No. 298 Odd Fellows’ members, and the Lizzie Rebekahs, the organization’s female counterpart to the men’s fraternal club, left pieces of their history behind in meeting logs and minute books. Joel Deutsch, the Bloomington man who bought the two-story brick building at the corner of Sale and Vine streets in March, found the documents stored in a plastic tote.

The beautiful cursive-written records from the 1890s are bound in moldy leather covers. They document meeting attendance — Charles Hendricks, John Cruise, John Johnson, Irwin Easton — and payment of dues of a quarter or 50 cents.

There is some arcane language in the Lizzie Rebekah records, where some women have the identifier “Sister” before their last names, “Sister Presley,” while others are identified by their first and last names.

The women’s minute books contained details of meetings, motions and votes that only members likely understood the meaning of, such as being unable "to follow the hunt." Native American references to Pocahontas, captured from her tribe and held for ransom by English colonists, abound.

History makes way for the future

The historic building’s new owner, Bloomington resident Joel Deutsch, is refurbishing the downstairs into office space for small business entrepreneurs. The upper-level portion where the Odd Fellows held meetings will be a luxury apartment.

A second upstairs room, with a high ceiling, original wood floor and eight large windows, could be home to a yoga studio or other business. There’s a hidden peephole built into the room’s entry door, so anyone knocking could be identified before allowed in.

Some furnishings came with the building as well. There’s a stove-sized safe manufactured 150 years ago by the Victor Safe & Lock Co. in Cincinnati. Deutsch said the key came with the building, and that the safe was empty when he cracked it open. The Odd Fellow’s meeting room also has an ornate 1890s Baldwin upright piano that plays beautifully. Deutsch sold an antique mahogany 1880s Brunswick Regina billiards table that had anchored the room.

So much history under one roof.

“This is a really a great building,” Deutsch said of his $215,000 investment, standing in the recessed Sale Street entryway on a rainy afternoon. “I feel like I’m doing Ellettsville a service by preserving this building.”

Deutsch had no ties to Ellettsville until he bought the six-unit Rose View Terrace Apartments adjacent to the Odd Fellows building two years ago. He refurbished the exterior the two-building and had artist Doug Long paint a flower mural on a cement wall near the sidewalk.

That was his foray into the sprucing up of the heart of Ellettsville. “I’m looking forward to enhancing this community and being part of the revitalization right here at the beginning.”

Four-stage renovation plan

The first project Deutsch financed was shoring up the building’s brick exterior. “I had to do the masonry work to make sure this building could stand another 100 years,” he said.

Phase two, he said, is happening this month. The roof is intact but needs some repairs. He’s using a local company, like he has since refurbishing began.

The third phase involves replacing the steep metal outdoor stairs that lead to the second level and construction of a wide deck off the back side of the building facing Ellettsville’s public library branch. Customized gold-leaf paint on the outside plus a Doug Long mural that will cover the side of the building facing Vine Street, will complete the exterior.

“This building is offing to be absolutely beautiful,” Deutsch said. The belle of the ball.”

Phase four will focus on reconstructing the building’s interior, using existing elements to highlight the historic amenities of the place. Deutsch said his research into the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which has been traced to London in the 1700s, has revealed some interesting rituals.

But in the end, he said, the fraternal organization focused on “knowing that no matter who you were in society, what level of affluence,” they all were just flesh and bone, put on the earth to do good works. The three intertwined circles in the Odd Fellows logo stand for friendship, love and truth.

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Some Odd Fellows history

Unofficial Ellettsville historian Rachel Peden McCarty provided Deutsch with some background on the building and the local Odd Fellows.

Ellettsville’s I.O.O.F was established Nov. 20, 1867, with 14 charter members. Their first building, and nine others, were destroyed by a fire in 1886. The current building was built around 1890.

Lodge 298 celebrated its 100-year anniversary May 25, 1967. She said the organizations beliefs were rooted in Biblical teachings, especially the story of the Good Samaritan.

She described a painting called “The Road to Jericho” that hung in the building made by local artist John Shook who built carriages and wagons. Deutsch said the man who has the painting is returning it to the lodge.

McCarty sad the Rebekah Lodge was chartered Jan. 25, 1893, and named in memory a deceased member named Liza Fletcher. The Ellettsville chapter was then called Lizzie Rebekah #413. Men could also belong to the Lizzie Rebekahs. But women could not be Odd Fellows.

There were 10 other fraternal organizations based in Ellettsville, McCarty said. By 1987, four were still active: the Odd Fellows, Lizzie Rebekahs, the Masons and the Eastern Star. The Odd Fellows, he said, was the second oldest, behind the Masons.

Through the years the building housed a variety of businesses, including a grocery store, a men’s clothing store, a flower shop, a library and a thrift store.

Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Historic Odd Fellows Building in Ellettsville being restored