Knights of Pythias No. 108 (former) - Hornbrook, CA
N 41° 54.601 W 122° 33.357
10T E 536826 N 4639880
A spray-painted K of P lodge number on a deteriorating building is all that remains as evidence of the lodge's place in history.
Waymark Code: WMV8DJ
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 03/13/2017
Views: 2
Located at the corner of Henley Hornbrook Rd and Front Street is a concrete, two-story building that has fallen into disrepair. Located just under the roofline are two spray-painted symbols, one which reads 'K of P No. 108' and the other which reads 'W.O.W. No. 572' (for Woodmen of the World). Both of these fraternal organizations called this building home for lodge meetings.
It has been very difficult to obtain any historical information on this building and former K of P lodge but I was able to find a couple of tidbits. A blog site highlights an oral history that was given by an old-timer of Hornbrook, George Wright, in 1953 and mentions this building being a lodge and reads:
On the corner of the next block to the north was a meat shop and barber shop. This building also had an upper floor which was used for Lodge meetings.
I also located a newspaper article from the Yreka News in 1916 which mentions the Hornbrook K of P lodge and reads:
THE KNIGHTS HAVE HIGH JINKS
The Knights of Pythias had a jolly time last Wednesday evening when several candidates were initiated into the mysteries of the degrees and it is said that they all rode the goat straight up. The Sisson (now the town of Mt. Shasta) lodge had been invited to come and put the esquire rank on the boys and turned out almost en masse. They were able assisted in their efforts by two pages from the Etna lodge and the combination did the work splendidly. To see the performance were Knights from Hornbrook, Montague and Etna and the Edgewood Castle also had a representative there. At the banquet at the close of the meeting 110 people were fed and the evening was pronounced by all present a most enjoyable one. The Yreka Knights are among the best entertainers of our city.
I've also contacted the local Siskiyou County Historical Society for any information they can provide on this building and/or the K of P lodge. If/when they give that info, I'll post it here.