- Included in the gallery, and shown below, is a Google Street View image of the IOOF Building. I've included it so viewers could have an idea of what the building looks like. While we got pix of the buildings either side and of the Crowsnest Heritage Plaque, we somehow neglected to get any pix of this building.
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
As early as 1909, the original 1.0.0.F. Hall was located in the Tom McCutcheon Block directly north of the old Bellevue Union Bank on Bellevue's original Main Street.
Sometime after the fire of 1917 that razed both the Front and Main Streets of Bellevue, the Bellevue Methodist Church (United Church) acquired the property on Front Street, the present day Main Street, where the Independent Order of the Odd Fellows erected their second lodge hall. This building was located between the Boston Cafe and the proposed Methodist Church. The Ray of Hope Rebekah Lodge was then instituted for the ladies who shared the fine new hall with the Odd Fellows.
Unfortunately, in 1921 a second major fire consumed most of the newly constructed businesses on the north side of this block, destroying the Johnson and Cousens store, the Lyric Theatre, the Boston Cafe, the new 1.0.0.F. Hall and the Methodist Church that was under construction. They were all rebuilt before 1926.
Throughout the years the 1.0.0.F. Hall served most of the social needs of the community and the schools by providing for banquets, dances, teas and socials, school concerts and graduations. The fraternal purpose of the lodge, to provide support to the needy and the bereaved, was required less and less in the community as the miners' unions became more successful in negotiating health care, death benefits, and accident insurance into their contracts with the mine owners. The Ray of Hope Rebekah Lodge, however, continued to work in the community until 1956.
In 1966 the Bellevue 1.0.0.F. Hall was sold to Johnny Quintilio who relocated Albert Quintilio's Pool Room, (the former Bellevue Pool Room) from across the street to this new location. Johnny operated his pool hall until his retirement in the mid 1990s. Johnny Q will be fondly remembered for his sharp pool skills and his genuine concern for the youth of the community.
Learn more about Crowsnest Heritage