Odd Fellows Buildings (1869-1989) Video

We have another episode of Mooresville Moments, a local history video series.  This installment explores the I.O.O.F. (Independent Order of Odd Fellows) buildings, which were located on the northeast corner of Main and Indiana Streets in downtown Mooresville.

Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) Buildings (1869-1989)

(Mooresville Moments #25)

by Mooresville Public Library

(click video box above to play)

There are always a few images or newspaper clippings that we don't use in the videos--it's a matter of viewing length and viewer attention spans--so we include those materials below.  (See also this blog post.)

Here's an advertisement for Warren Insurance Agency that appeared in the 1980 Mooresville High School yearbook, Wagon Trails (page 146).  Warren was the last business to be located in the first floor remnant of the second I.O.O.F. building, which was demolished in 1989.

 Click Images to Enlarge

The second I.O.O.F. building's demolition began in 1964, with the top floor being removed; the entire second floor was removed, leaving a first-floor "sliver" remaining, so that Citizens Bank could extend its new building's parking lot in 1965-66.  The article headline (below) declares the Odd Fellows building to be 105 years old (in 1964), but that's mistaken.  The second I.O.O.F. building (built 1881) was 83 years old in 1964.  Even if the reporter had been dating to the first I.O.O.F. building (built 1869, burned down in 1881), the age would only have been 95 years old.  The reporter's error arose from the I.O.O.F. capstone (dated 1859), which was installed atop the first Odd Fellows building in 1869, and subsequently placed upon the second Odd Fellows building in 1881.  The capstone commemorated the establishment of Mooresville's I.O.O.F. chapter (Morgan Lodge #211), which was founded on July 7, 1859.  The capstone was being removed during the 1964 upper-story dismantlement, and the reporter had incorrectly assumed that the capstone's 1859 date corresponded with the building's age.

 Mooresville Times

July 23, 1964

After the Odd Fellows capstone was removed in 1964, it was housed at Citizens Bank for a number of years. Some time later, it was kept at the Academy School Museum on North Monroe Street.  Since 2017, the capstone has been part of a wall in Mooresville Bicentennial Park (on the site of the Odd Fellows buildings).

 Mooresville-Decatur Times

October 21, 2017

Here's a 1962 aerial photo showing the Odd Fellows building (boxed in yellow):

East Main Street in Downtown Mooresville

1962 Mooresville High School

Wagon Trails Yearbook

Ernest L. Hadley had this stereo photograph (taken by local photographer J. P. Calvert) showing the fire damage to the first I.O.O.F. building (July, 1881):

 

Longtime Mooresville Historian Wanda Potts wrote about the fire in her 1999 newspaper column.

Mooresville Moments

Mooresville Times

June 23, 1999

  

Pleasant "Pleas" Mills' dry goods store is visible behind the Mooresville High School students celebrating their basketball team's victory over Monrovia High School on February 22, 1922 in the Main-Indiana Street intersection downtown.

 

 (Photo by local photographer Manley Brown)

Northeast Corner Changes

In 1824, Samuel Moore constructed his general store on the northeast corner of the intersection of Indiana and Main Streets in downtown Mooresville.  Let's see how that corner has changed over the years.

Situated on the northeast corner were the following:

• Samuel Moore's general store (1824-1869);
• First I.O.O.F. building (1869-1881);
• Second I.O.O.F. building (1881-1989);
• Paul Hadley memorial park (1990-2017);
• Mooresville Bicentennial Park (2017-    )

Let's see some images, courtesy of the Indiana Room at Mooresville Public Library.

Original Plat of Mooresville, Indiana (1824)

(showing the northeast corner of Indiana and Main Streets)
(Section B4, Lots 1-2 & 15-16)

(Recorded February 21, 1825, Morgan County Recorder's Office)

After the fire (July 8, 1881) that destroyed

the first I.O.O.F. building (photo by J. P. Calvert)

(photo donated to MPL by Ernest L. Hadley [1891-1972])

Back of 1881 photo

MPL photo report for 1881 picture

I.O.O.F. Morgan Lodge #211 members parade in front of

the second I.O.O.F. building (circa 1885)

(photo by J. P. Calvert)

Second I.O.O.F. building is in the upper center

of this photo (circa 1885) by J. P. Calvert

East Main Street (circa 1890)

(Second I.O.O.F. building is at front left)

(photo by J. P. Calvert)

Second I.O.O.F. building (July 18, 1920)

(photo by Manley Brown)

2-22-22 celebration

(second I.O.O.F. building in background)

from the Mooresville Times, January 22, 1976)

2-22-22 celebration

(original photograph by Manley Brown)

Demolition of Hundley building

(just east of the second I.O.O.F. building)

(Mooresville Times, October 24, 1963)

Removal of top floor of second I.O.O.F. building

(Mooresville Times, July 23, 1964)

The second I.O.O.F. building's demolition began in 1964, with the top floor being removed; the entire second floor was removed, leaving a first-floor "sliver" remaining, so that Citizens Bank could extend its new building's parking lot in 1965-66.  The article headline (above) declares the Odd Fellows building to be 105 years old (in 1964), but that's mistaken.  The second I.O.O.F. building (built 1881) was 83 years old in 1964.  Even if the reporter had been dating to the first I.O.O.F. building (built 1869, burned down in 1881), the age would only have been 95 years old.  The reporter's error arose from the I.O.O.F. capstone (dated 1859), which was installed atop the first Odd Fellows building in 1869, and subsequently placed upon the second Odd Fellows building in 1881.  The capstone commemorated the establishment of Mooresville's I.O.O.F. chapter (Morgan Lodge #211), which was founded on July 7, 1859.  The capstone was being removed during the 1964 upper-story dismantlement, and the reporter had incorrectly assumed that the capstone's 1859 date corresponded with the building's age.

After the Odd Fellows capstone was removed in 1964, it was housed at Citizens Bank for a number of years. Some time later, it was kept at the Academy School Museum on North Monroe Street.  Since 2017, the capstone has been part of a wall in Mooresville Bicentennial Park (on the site of the Odd Fellows buildings).

I.O.O.F. Capstone

Mooresville-Decatur Times

October 21, 2017

Last day of the second I.O.O.F. remnant (April, 1989)

(photo by Jack Broyer)

Planning Paul Hadley mini-park (1989)

(Mooresville Times, July 21, 1999)

Janet (Griffin) Buckley sits atop the

"founder's stone" in Paul Hadley mini-park

with "Flat" Cauli Le Chat & "Flat" Dovydas

during Mooresville's Victorian Christmas

(December 3, 2011)

(photo by William R. Buckley)

State historical marker commemorating Paul Hadley

& the Indiana State Flag being unveiled

(August 6, 2016)

(photo by William R. Buckley)

Mooresville Bicentennial Park

(December 5, 2017)

(photo by William R. Buckley)

This Month's Library News (a Century Ago)

As part of our 100th anniversary celebration during 2012, we will be looking back a century to see what library news was breaking in Mooresville, Indiana.

The proverbial ball was rolling in January, 1912, as concerned citizens were circulating petitions for signature demonstrating public support for construction of a new public library in Mooresville.  This public push began in October, 1911.  The Friends Aid Society met at the home of Mrs. George Carter to campaign for a new facility. On December 12, 1911, a meeting was held at F. E. Carlisle's furniture store with representatives of local organizations, including the Likely Literary Club, Bay View Club, several churches, the Board of Education, and the school superintendent, A. C. Payne. Carrie E. Scott, librarian and a representative of the Public Library Commission, presided. Enthusiastic support prompted a public meeting on December 18, 1911 at the Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church, which is now the Mooresville Town Government Center. Jacob Dunn, president of the Public Library Commission, and library board members from Plainfield and Martinsville encouraged Mooresville's efforts to reestablish its library.  By January, 1912, efforts were well under way to garner public support in town and surrounding Brown Township in Morgan County.

Apparently, public officials were confident that a new public library would be built, because local carpenters (and undertakers) Rusie & Son mailed this postcard (below) to Orleans Cabinet Company on September 19, 1911, requesting delivery of a table order for the library.  These tables were initially used in the library's temporary quarters (1913-1915) and were subsequently moved to the completed library during its construction in 1915.  One of the original tables now resides in the MPL Indiana Room.

Postcard dated 9/19/1911 from Rusie & Son to Orleans Cabinet Company

requesting delivery of library tables

(postcard courtesy of Ron Moon)

(Click images to enlarge)

Want to see what a hundred-year-old-plus library table looks like?  Drop by the MPL Indiana Room, or click the photos below.

 
As for the library's temporary quarters:  On April 18, 1913, the library leased space for a reading room in the Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) Building, which was where 8 East Main Street would be today.  (2017 UPDATE:  Mooresville Bicentennial Park is now situated at this location.) This was the temporary quarters for the library until the new building was completed.

I.O.O.F. (Odd Fellows) Building

(Photo taken 7/18/1920 by Manley Brown)

Why did Rusie & Son order the library tables so early?  Mooresville's Hovey Institute and Workmen's Library (1855-ca. 1885) had leased rooms in the old Holman Johnson Building (at 9 West Main Street) during the 1870s-1880s, and although this was a subscription library that was disbanded circa 1885, the space was probably still used in 1911 to store library furniture, shelving, etc., when the building was owned by F. E. Carlisle, undertaker and furniture maker, who operated at the location from 1895 to 1948.

F. E. Carlisle owned the "new" Holman Johnson Building (built in 1895)

where library tables purchased in 1911 were probably stored.  The building is just to the left of Pace Thompson, who stood in front of his dry goods store
(not too far from the horse and buggy).  Ignore the white arrow at the top,
which points to Pace Thompson's building (ca. 1910 photo by J. P. Calvert)

1912 view of West Main Street (looking west from the intersection

with Indiana Street) in downtown Mooresville, Indiana.

The new library would be built on the right,

where the second stand of trees is visible

In the photo above, the word bank was traced in ink on the sign above the entrance to Farmers State Bank.  To see additional photos of downtown Mooresville during this time period, click here and here and here.  For yet more history about downtown, just browse this blog's archives.

In January and February, 1912, officials of the town government began searching for prospective sites for the new library.  Stay tuned to learn some of the surprising possible locations that were initially selected, and the resultant public furor that shaped the final decisions.

McCracken Hotel & Restaurant (1912)

Here's a teaser:  The eventual library locale was directly across from this popular restaurant.

Want to take a walking tour of downtown Mooresville? Probably not in January, but here's some information, anyway. Watch our local history trailer, too. Too busy to take the downtown walking tour? We have a virtual alternative.

Restoring Downtown History

The Mooresville Redevelopment Commission (RDC) has restored a vital aspect of Mooresville's history downtown and plans to restore further historical tributes to this consequential site.

In Mooresville's Bicentennial Park, currently under construction downtown on the northeast corner of Main and Indiana Streets, the RDC has incorporated into a side wall the capstone of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) buildings, which memorialized the organization's founding of local Morgan Lodge #211 on July 7, 1859.  The I.O.O.F. buildings stood on this site from 1869 to 1989.  The first, three-story structure (built in 1869) was destroyed by fire in 1881, but was replaced by a second building (1881) that was partially demolished in 1964, with the remnant of the first floor finally being removed in 1989.  (The capstone had been stored in the Mooresville Academy School on Monroe Street for many years.)  The I.O.O.F. buildings housed generations of local family businesses.

I.O.O.F. Buildings Capstone

(courtesy of the Mooresville-Decatur Times)
(click photos to enlarge)

Second I.O.O.F. Building (ca. 1885)

(Photo by J. P. Calvert)

Second I.O.O.F. Building (July 18, 1920)

(Photo by Manley Brown)

Remnant of the First Floor of the Second I.O.O.F.

Building, Demolished in April, 1989

(Photo by Jack Broyer)

Recently, the "Founder Stone," a historical commemorative plaque affixed to a boulder honoring Samuel Moore (1799-1889), founder of Mooresville, was removed during construction of the new park.  Before the I.O.O.F. buildings, this was the site of Samuel Moore's first wood-frame business building (the first of its kind in Mooresville, built in 1824).  In 1989 plans were made to convert the property into a small park commemorating Paul Hadley (1880-1971), designer of the Indiana State Flag.  That park is now becoming Bicentennial Park.

The "Founder Stone"

(Photo by Shawn Stewart, February, 1998)

Janet (Griffin) Buckley with the "Founder Stone"
(October 29, 2007)

(Photo by William R. Buckley)

In addition to the "Founder Stone" and the I.O.O.F. capstone, the northeast corner of Main and Indiana Streets was the site of an official state historical marker honoring the state flag and its designer.  This marker, too, has been removed during construction but will be relocated on-site when the project is completed.

Paul Hadley/Indiana State Flag Historical Marker

(Dedicated August 6, 2016)

(Photos by William R. Buckley)

The citizens of Mooresville placed the Samuel Moore stone and plaque downtown in 1924 as part of the town's centennial celebration.  Samuel and Eliza Moore's granddaughter, Mary Ida Fogleman, was instrumental in the creation and placement of this historical tribute.

Samuel & Eliza Moore with their daughter,

Margaret Fogleman, and their granddaughter,

(Mary) Ida Fogleman (from A Brief History of the

First Methodist Church in Mooresville, Indiana [1950])

According to reporter Lauren Carpenter, "the RDC [Mooresville Redevelopment Commission] also plans to place the Samuel Moore plaque at the corner of the park as well. [. . .]  As of right now, there are no plans on where to place the stone."  ("Odd Fellows Sign Restored," Mooresville-Decatur Times, Saturday, October 21, 2017, page A6.)

This is indeed good news.  Restoration of the "Founder plaque" to its original location preserves important historical information about the origins of the town and its early pioneer days.  It is fitting that the new bicentennial park, which is designed to commemorate Mooresville's 200th anniversary in 2024, should be situated in such a significant historical location.  As to the stone itself, that's not nearly as important--it's just a boulder left in the glacial moraine that was salvaged from a nearby field--but the plaque is historically critical.

Small communities such as Mooresville need to preserve a sense of history--of continuity--connecting current residents with their predecessors.  Those who live here now stand upon the shoulders of all those who came before, including the town's progenitor.  Without Samuel Moore, there would have been no Mooresville that so many of us now call home.

Saluting Samuel Moore at the site of his first wood-frame business, as the "Founder plaque" has done for nearly a century, emphasizes the significance of the place and what has stood there.  When Samuel Moore built that wood-frame structure for his general store among the handful of surrounding log cabins, he was saying that Mooresville would become an established town, lasting long into the future.  The wood-frame business was unlike other places where log cabins were temporary abodes later abandoned.  It was at the center--the very heart--of the community Moore had established, and he wanted everyone to see that this town would endure.  And so it has, for nearly 200 years.

Original Plat of Mooresville, Indiana (1824)

(Recorded February 21, 1825, Morgan County Recorder)

What better way to honor the pioneer who created our hometown, and all the pioneers and settlers who came thereafter, than by the "Founder plaque" placed at the core of our community?  The plaque belongs on the northeast corner of Indiana and Main Streets downtown, and I salute the Mooresville RDC in its plan to restore it to its central location so that it may continue its part in our town's historical narrative.

Having the I.O.O.F. capstone in the new bicentennial park is likewise crucial to preserving Mooresville's downtown heritage.  Once the State Flag/Paul Hadley marker is also restored, we will have strong reminders of the importance of Mooresville's past in the development of it present (and future). 

Mooresville IN Fires (Mooresville Moments Series)

This installment of Mooresville Moments (June 23, 1999) (below) reviews the more famous fires that ravaged businesses and houses in Mooresville, Indiana, throughout its history, and it refers to the history of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) buildings that once stood on the northeast corner of the intersection of Main and Indiana Streets in downtown Mooresville.

Click (above) to enlarge

Mooresville Moments was written and edited by Wanda Potts, Indiana Room Librarian (1966-2002), Mooresville Public Library, in 1999 to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the town's founding in 1824.

Flash From Your Past (Historical Flashcard Series)

FLASH FROM YOUR PAST

Here's a "flash from your past," if you're a long-time Mooresville resident.  We present our local history flashcard series, featuring old photographs in and around Mooresville and northern Morgan County, Indiana.  Just click the links below to see each flashcard.

• Flashcard #1:  Farmers State Bank
• Flashcard #2:  Mooresville's First Police Car
• Flashcard #3:  Day Grocery
• Flashcard #4:  Covered Bridge on the Old Waverly Road
• Flashcard #5:  Mooresville Sanatarium (i.e., Sanitarium)
• Flashcard #6:  Sam Wade
• Flashcard #7:  Dr. William L. Thompson, M.D. (see this blog post for the flashcard)
• Flashcard #8:  Banner Flour Mill
• Flashcard #9:  Bolton Sorghum Factory
• Flashcard #10:  Comer & Scearce Lumber Company
• Flashcard #11:  Indiana Brass & Iron Bed Factory
• Flashcard #12:  McCracken House (Restaurant & Hotel)
• Flashcard #13:  Allison Grocery
• Flashcard #14:  Northside of West Main Street (1960s)
• Flashcard #15:  Pure Oil Gasoline Station
• Flashcard #16:  Henry Conduitt House (later Comer Sanitarium & Kendrick Hospital)
• Flashcard #17:  Burch Grocery
• Flashcard #18:  Scruggs Dry Goods Store
• Flashcard #19:  Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church
• Flashcard #20:  Mooresville Public Library
• Flashcard #21:  Samuel Moore & Eliza Moore
• Flashcard #22A:  "Old" Town Park
• Flashcard #22:  Old Settlers Picnic #1:  Origins
• Flashcard #23:  Old Settlers Picnic #2 (Rocking Chair Competition)
• Flashcard #24:  Old Settlers Picnic #3:  Parade
• Flashcard #25:  Indiana State Flag (& Paul Hadley)
• Flashcard #26:  Amos Rusie, "the Hoosier Thunderbolt" (all-star professional baseball pitcher)
• Flashcard #27:  Mooresville Town Banner (Flag)
• Flashcard #28:  Mooresville Academy School
• Flashcard #29:  Old Mooresville High School
• Flashcard #30:  I.O.O.F. (Odd Fellows) Building
• Flashcard #31:  First Christian Church
• Flashcard #32:  Fall Creek Furniture Company
• Flashcard #33:  Mooresville Friends Church
• Waverly Flashcard #1:  Waverly School #1
• Waverly Flashcard #2:  Waverly School #2