Woodmen of the World

Woodmen of the World. . Built to be used by the Fraternal Order of the Eagles, this building was later bought by the Woodmen of the World for their fraternal organization. The second floor housed a grand ballroom and stage, while the top floor was a large banquet hall and kitchen. Many spectacular balls, dances, initiation rites and formal dinners were held in the building over the years. The Structure is basically Italianate in style, but the rounded windows on the third floor and the entrance to the lodge hall with thick columns surmounted by a grand arch are in the style of Richardsonian Romanesque (See the entrance to the Bowman Hotel as an example of this style.) Some of the tenants on the first floor over the years were: The Round-Up Cafe, the Selective Service Local Board No. 25 and Jim's Market, which offered home delivery four time a day. , Woodmen of the World is a fraternal organization and was founded in 1890 in Omaha, Nebraska by Joseph Cullen Root. One of the most enduring physical legacies of the organization may be the number of distinctive cemetery headstones made in the shape of a tree stump. This was an early benefit of Woodmen membership, and the headstones can be found in cemeteries across the nation. The Pendleton chapter of the fraternal organization had this building built in 1905.