NRHP Nomination Form
The Odd Fellows Hall at 400 North Main Street was designed by committee and constructed by S. F. Evans in 1907. In the same year that the town of Taylor was founded, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.0.F.) Lodge 240 was organized. This was a fratemal organization devoted to "betterment of man's relation with his neighbor." For twenty-eight years, the lodge regularly met in rented hall space on Second Street. In 1904, the Lodge purchased the lot at the corner of Fourth and Talbot. Two years later, in January 1906, the Lodge appointed a building committee to investigate the possibility of constructing a new hall on this site. The building committee consisted of S.F. Evans, a prominent contractor in the Taylor Area, P. O. Wilson, owner of the Daily Democrat, A. Alexander, manager of Sturgis Goldstein Department Store, S. N. Nelson, a farmer; and W. D. Pane, a local dentist. Evans recommended that the new lodge be constructed of cast-on-site concrete blocks rather than brick. This innovative method of construction was rather new, as the use of concrete block did not gain huge popularity until after 1909 when mail-order companies such as Sears and Roebuck began to sell concrete block presses. The Lodge membership voted to allow Evans to oversee the construction, and he was paid a fee 2.5% of the total building costs. The Woodmen of the World contributed the memorial window that was installed as the centerpiece of the central bay. The I.O.O.F. moved into the new building in May 1907, but had to borrow $4000 to pay for cost of materials and labor for the construction. The I.O.O.F. continued to use the second floor of the building for their private meetings, and when not in use by the lodge, let the space out to over thirty other organizations. These included the Woodmen of the World, Mary B. Welch Rebekah Lodge, the Ku Klux Klan, Knights of Pythias, Knights of Columbus, the Methodist Sunday School, and a Lutheran Church. The ground floor tenants were few. In 1908, P.O. Wilson moved his Taylor Daily Democrat and Taylor Weekly Texan into building. As a side note, the Taylor Daily Democrat was the first daily newspaper in Williamson County, and had the first linotype machine in the Taylor area (which required a massive concrete foundation to be imbedded into the floor of the building for support). When the two papers folded in 1927, the first floor was rented to John Comforth for his furniture and antique store. Comforth occupied the ground floor for the next thirty-one years, making his own fumiture on the east side of the first floor, and selling antiques on the west side. When he retired in 1958, the Cowands Home Decorating and Supply Company moved into the first floor space. The Odd Fellows discontinued meeting in their building in 1976 due to lack of new members and the fact that the older members could no longer negotiate the stairs; however, the Lodge retained ownership of the building until 1984 when it was sold to Tom Greer. Following the sale, the "secret room" on the second floor was unlocked - and found inside were minutes, bookkeeping records, and "mystical garb" of the Odd Fellows dating back to 1876. This represents a unique and concise record of the evolution of the organization, as well as the construction of their lodge building.
The Odd Fellows building displays a distinct and unusual architectural expression. This two-story concrete block building is rectangular in plan, and symmetrically disposed. The concrete blocks were cast on site to resemble rusticated stone. The ground floor is characterized by a recessed storefront framed by cast iron columns. Two glazed display windows flank this central entrance, with kick plates below and four-part transoms above. On the upper story, two symmetrical bay windows are placed above these ground-floor display windows. The bay windows are each divided into three portions, with leaded glass windows inserted between the wood framing. An arched window is positioned in the center of the facade, between the bay windows, on the upper story. This is glazed with decorative leaded glass (in diamond and rectangle patterns), and framed by concrete block voussoirs. The building is crowned by a castellated parapet with a protruding centerpiece carved with "1907 lOOF." These stone battlements and cornice continue around entire facade and elevations. Though this building is an eclectic mixture, Queen Anne and Castellated influences are visible. Significant interior features include a pressed metal ceiling. Interior has pressed metal ceiling and structural cast iron columns as interior dividers. The Odd Fellows Building remains virtually unaltered, with exception of partition walls on the second floor and now some detailing added in the display windows.