IMB Soc. Building

IMB Soc. Building. 1883 and 1892. , Look to the top. What do you see? IMB Soc. stands for the Iowa Masons' Benevolent Society. , This was an Oskaloosa based life insurance company organized in 1876. It targeted the Masonic fraternal community as a group. In those days, individual life insurance policies were a luxury beyond most people's reach., This building is actually two buildings in one! The East half was built in 1883 and the West half was added in 1892. The architects did such a great job that most people never notice. Can you tell? Notice the size of the indented H's on each ½ that make up the Iowa Masons' Benevolent Society building., The IMB Soc. merged with the Equitable Mutual Life Association of Waterloo in 1896. In 1899, the Iowa Attorney General went to court to declare that this entity was operating illegally. The judge agreed and appointed a Receiver to wind up the affairs of the company. In 1901 the IMB Soc. building was sold under court order on the Mahaska County Courthouse steps for $28,200, which the local papers reported as "a bargain.", Teddy Roosevelt, our Republican President from 1901-1909, campaigned downtown on September 4, 1912 under The Bull Moose Party, which he had formed after losing the Republican nomination to conservative rival and former protégé President Taft. Community members stretched all the way to the IMB Soc. building to hear his campaign speech., Original building built in 1883 makes up ½ of what you see today. , President Teddy Roosevelt giving a campaign speech on the northwest corner of the park, in 1912., The rest of the story...https://www.oacdg.org/history/, Oskaloosa Historic District