Anyone growing up in Marion has to have a memory of the old Elks Lodge at 202-4 S. Market St. on the corner of W. College Street. The beautiful two story Greek style building commanded the corner for over eighty years with its huge white double columns, large banistered front porch and second floor balcony.
Although the building was demolished in1985 and replaced with a metal building it still resonates in the memories of all Marion residents old enough to remember it.
The following excerpt is taken from the 1905 Souvenir History of Williamson County:
“This most numerous, popular and useful of the Fraternal Orders of the County, was organized August 1, 1902, with 31 charter members. As the rules of the Order require a population in the city of 5,000, before a charter can be issued, Marion Lodge stands alone in the lower portion of Southern Illinois, with the exception of Murphysboro, DuQuoin, Mt. Vernon, Centralia and Cairo.
It has fitted up the old Dunaway Opera House in a substantial and attractive manner, with electric lights and fans, chairs, carpets and an elegant piano with the famous Angelus automatic attachment. It has also a good billiard room and table, and a large and well-appointed dining room for festive occasions.
The hall has a seating capacity of from three to five hundred, with a broad central stairway of only one flight, opening directly on the street on the west side of the square. Convenience, safety and elegance are all the conditions and arrangements, and it is not surprising that it is rapidly increasing in members, applications being received at every meeting.
Beginning with 31 members two years ago, in 1904 it numbered 117.
Its first officers and the present incumbents Charter Officials are as follows: Ex-Ruler—Wm. H. Bundy, E. L. Kt.—W. H. Warden, E. Loy Kt.—J. M. Young, E. Lee, Kt.—O. H. Burnett, Sec.—Geo. C. Campbell, Treas.—H. Spieldock, Esquire—T. L. Dowell, Tiler—Sandy Miller, Chaplain—O. J. Page, I. G.—O. S. Schneider, Trustees—Karl Wolf, Manhiem Cantor— C. W. Schwerdt.
The Officers in 1904 were Ex-Ruler—Wm. H. Warden, E. L. Kt.—J. M. Young, B. Loy. Kt.—Jean Burkhart, E. Lee, Kt.—Chas. W. Hay, Sec.—Geo. C. Campbell, Treas.—H. Spieldock, Esquire—C. V. Cunningham, Tiler—John W. Spiller, Chaplain—R. H. Cunningham, I. G.—Sandy Miller, Trustees—Karl Wolf, Hogan Williford, R. Trevor.”———1905 Souvenir History, WCHS
The original meeting place for the Elks club was the old refitted Dunaway Opera House at 603 Public Square until 1908 when the beautiful building on S. Market Street was built at a cost of $30,000.
The Marion Elks Lodge as of this writing is still as active and viable in 2013 as it was in 1904. The lodge supports scholarships, youth activities, veteran services and community investment programs.
They have an auxiliary property used for entertainment at the Lake of Egypt with a boat ramp, pavilion and a beach available to members.
See also, Marion Eks 100th Anniversary
(Data and 1904 lodge members from 1905 Souvenir History, WCHS; Elks Lodge 800 website; postcard from Mike Ward Collections, the Williamson County Historical Society and internet sources)