Odd Fellows Building and Auditorium - Atlanta, GA - Odd Fellow Lodges on Waymarking.com

Odd Fellows Building and Auditorium located at 228-250 Auburn Avenue, Sweet Auburn Historic District, Atlanta, Georgia.

A short walk from the Martin Luther King Center, Georgia State University, the Grady Medical Center and Woodruff park.



History of the building - source (visit link)

The Atlanta Chapter of the Grand Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternal organization supporting and networking the black business community, built this substantial building as their headquarters and to provide much needed office, retail, professional, meeting and entertainment space for African Americans in Atlanta. One of the major black entrepreneurial centers in America, this well appointed building provided space for The Gate City Drug Store (later Yates and Milton; owned by the first black pharmacist in Georgia, Dr.Amos Moses), Baileys Royal Theatre, Curry-Hall Haberdasher, the offices of Dr. Shaw (Atlanta's first black optometrist), The Gate City Barber Shop, Sportsmans Smoke House and the House of Flowers to mention a few.

The Odd Fellows Auditorium in the Annex became a center for entertainment as soon as it opened. The Royal Theatre was located in the Annex and was the only movie house in Atlanta where Blacks could be seated on the main floor. The roof garden created a space to dine and dance in an elegant atmosphere.
The buildings were restored in the late 1980's and established a benchmark for redevelopment in the Sweet Auburn Historic District.

Note: When I visited the site there had been a fire in the bulding across the street and the street was blocked off.

Location Details: Concentrated along a short mile and a half of Auburn Avenue, the Sweet Auburn Historic District reflects the history, heritage and achievements of Atlanta's African Americans. The name Sweet Auburn was coined by John Wesley Dobbs, referring to the "richest Negro street in the world." Like other black communities throughout the country, Sweet Auburn's success was intricately tied to the residential patterns forced on African Americans during the early 20th century--the result of restrictive laws in southern states which enforced segregation of the races, known as Jim Crow laws. It was here that many African Americans established businesses, congregations, and social organizations. Source - more information: http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/atlanta/aub.htm Date of construction: 1912 - main building opened; 1913 - annex with auditorium is opened. location website: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
A unique picture, including yourself in the picture, or at least one with your GPS in the frame.

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Date Logged Log User Rating   03/26/2008 Lat34North visited it

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