Wilmington has a fair number of fraternal/benevolent associations, groups like The Lions Club and The Elks.
Back in the day, however, these groups were much more prominent, and one of the most prominent was the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, or I.O.O.F., which met in a grand lodge on one of Wilmington's most high-profile street corners downtown.
The building, which was on the northwest corner of South Third and Princess streets, no longer stands. In its day, however, the Odd Fellows building, as it was known, was a major Wilmington landmark.
According to Beverly Tetterton's 2005 book "Wilmington: Lost But Not Forgotten," the origins of the Odd Fellows fraternal organization date to 17th-century England.
The first American Odd Fellows lodge opened
in 1819, and the Cape Fear chapter was founded in 1842.
In 1872 the group "moved to a handsome three-story building near the northwest corner of Third and Princess streets," Tetterton writes.
The first two floors were rented out, with another fraternal organization, the Knights of Pythias — which would later have its own building on Princess Street, where the Monteith construction company is today — occupying the second floor.
In 1904, a large new Odd Fellows building was built on the corner of Third and Princess next to the old lodge, and the building's third floors were connected.
"Designed by Wilmington architect Charles McMillen, the three-story structure was built with Philadelphia red brick and trimmed with granite," Tetterton writes.
The City Laundry Co., whose former building at 22 N. Second St. still stands, was opened in the second Odd Fellows building in 1906 and operated there for a few years before moving locations.
The Odd Fellows building was used by multiple Wilmington fraternal organizations — except, presumably, for Black ones, given that segregation was in effect locally at the time — and several Wilmington attorneys rented space there due to its proximity to the courthouse.
In the midst of Wilmington's push for "urban renewal," the Odd Fellows building was torn down in 1967 to make way for Waccamaw Bank. The site has been occupied by one bank or another ever since, and the large Truist bank building is there today.
The Cape Fear chapter of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows still exists. It meets at 7 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 5612 John Henry Drive in Wilmington.
John Staton is the arts and culture reporter for the StarNews. You can reach him at jstaton@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: This 'Odd' building in downtown Wilmington was once a local landmark
