28th Annual Walking Tour Archive – Danville Historical Society
Historic Designation: | Odd Fellows Hall |
Address: | 132 South Ridge Street |
2000 Owners: | |
Description: |
Since its completion nearly 75 years ago, this sedate Georgian Revival-style building has sheltered at street level several well-known Danville businesses, including the Nehi Bottling Company, famous for Grapette, and later, L.B. Clark Music Company. For the past decade its eye-catching show windows have gleamed with stylish gifts, and accessories for table and home offered by Entertainer ‘s Delight, launched by Alan and Sara Bryant in 1986. Upstairs, the second floor is a rare window on the city’s past and traditions. Danville's Bethesda Lodge No. 57, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, has met here since 1926, when the lodge had the space completed for its use. The I.O.O.F. is among the largest fraternal and benevolent orders in the United States. Bethesda Lodge No. 57 was chartered in 1847, less than 30 years after the first Odd Fellows Lodge in America was organized in Baltimore. The Danville Lodge’s room is appointed with original 19th-century lodge furnishings and regalia, given even more dignity by a lofty, pressed-tin ceiling. Symbolism around the room incorporates the fraternity’s three links, representing friendship, love, and truth. Arrangements for the afternoon are courtesy of Sara and Alan Bryant at Entertainer’s Delight, in cooperation with the Bethesda Lodge No. 57, and the Rebekah Lodge No. 80. |