Cass County Indiana History: Odd Fellows Buidling Logansport, Indiana

This building still stands on the southeast corner of Fifth and North Streets as of 2023.

Before the new building was built in 1908 The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, IOOF, met in a building located on the southwest corner of Pearl & Broadway. That building, was built by D. C. Elliott, wholesale grocer. The ground floor was occupied by Solimanos’s fruit and confection store. The second floor was used by professional men for offices and the third floor was used for meetings by the Odd Fellows. This would later become the Farmers & Merchants State Bank.

In April of 1908 local newspaper headlines read PLANS COMPLETE FOR CEREMONY with a sub headline CORNER STONE OF ODD FELLOWS BUILDING WILL BE LAID WITH APPROPRIATE SERVICES.

There was a parade led by the Elks band and speakers from all over and naturally several lodges from other areas attended.

The “classical revival” Odd Fellows Hall aka the Odd Fellows Building, was built by John E. Barnes on the southeast corner of 5th and North Streets. Apartments were available to rent within the building and some of the first tenants of the IOOF building apartments were Daniel Heron, RR signal man and wife Ada; Charles Spencer, co-owner of Spencer & Regan Billiards and Cigars and wife Augusta; and John Beroth, a blacksmith and his wife Theresa. Beroth’s relative, Frank Beroth was the IOOF secretary in those days. When John Beroth retired from blacksmith work, he became the building janitor.

December 4, 1907 clipping above.

August 18, 1908

October 17, 1908

By 1930 the ground floor of the building housed a farm implement and hardware store doing business as Marburger Brothers Hardware.

In 1935 Sears Agricultural Implement store moved in and the IOOF members used a side entrance to gain access to their meeting rooms on the floors above. Sears maintained a presence in the building until the construction of the new shopping mall east of Lognasport’s downtown in 1967-68. By 1969 Sears was located in the Mall.

The Logansport city directories begin listing The Broken Spoke, a leather goods store in the building in 1971, with storage rooms on the upper floors for the Bickels’ bicycle, toys and hobby business.