The Odd Fellows Hall
1104-06 Washington Avenue
Odd Fellows Hall On Avenue West side 1100 block of Washington – 1880s Odd Fellows Hall 3rd from right Photo courtesy Gardner Family Collection
In 1874 the Jefferson County government bade farewell to the Court House Block, and took up its new quarters in the Court House Block. However, they were now physically located exactly 2 blocks west of their old location. This is because they had moved to what has long been known as the Odd Fellows Hall. At the time it was re-christened Court House Block.
This building was the largest storefront yet constructed in downtown Golden, built in 1871. It was a tall 2 stories made of brick, featuring a row of segmental arched windows across its upper floor topped by a corbelled brick cornice. Its plate glass storefront design, however, represented a significant architectural advancement for Golden, the city’s first iron storefront. The twin storefronts of this building were separated by a central arched doorway with steps leading to the 2nd floor hall. The place was originally known as Jefferson Hall, given that name by its builders, George W. Dollison, Dr. James Kelly, Albert Townsend, and Judge Allison H. DeFrance.
Odd Fellows Hall Under Construction
Odd Fellows Hall under construction – 1871
Photo courtesy Golden Historical Collection, Richard A. Ronzio Collection
On the lower floor Ebenzer T. Osborne opened his meat market, while the upper floor served as the town’s new public hall. Soon the County government made itself at home, and continued to meet here while preparations were made for its first true courthouse building. After they left, the upper floor was annexed by George W. Bacon to become part of the original Avenue Hotel in 1878, along with the upper floors of the neighboring Taft and Smith buildings to the north. The hall continued long after the hotel’s demise, with the Masons meeting here for a time, and ultimately the Odd Fellows and Rebekah lodges. As male and female counterparts of each other they have met in this building for well over a century to date, the Odd Fellows being the 13th lodge of their kind in Colorado. After many years, in 1961, the Odd Fellows finally finished paying off the building’s mortgage, and they celebrated by replacing the original building front with the modern one there today. After serving a number of years as the Golden Furniture Store, the building is today a flower shop and antique shop.
by Richard Gardner – Gardner History & Preservation