Elks Building

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the Elks Building in Marshall, Harrison County, Texas. On April 19, 1901, Lodge 683 of the Benevolent Paternal Order of Elks came together at Newman Hall in downtown Marshall. Now, that's how most good stories start, folks.

A gathering. A handshake. A purpose.

But a lodge without a proper home is just a meeting waiting for a building, and these Elks were not content to wait long. A building committee was established, and the man they chose to turn their ambitions into bricks and mortar was C.G. Lancaster, noted east Texas architect Cornelius Granville Lancaster himself.

The builders? The Moose Brothers. And together, they set out to give Lodge 683 something worthy of Marshall's shopping district.

What they delivered, in 1903, was the Elks Building. Lancaster designed it as a crown jewel, and that is the marker's own language, a crown jewel, sitting right there in the heart of town. For decades, the lodge held its meetings, its events, all the organized life of 683, inside those walls.

Then, in 1953, the Elks Lodge moved on to Austin and Alamo Streets. The building they left behind still stands, carrying the mark of a 1901 gathering, a committee's decision, and one architect's idea of what a crown jewel looks like.

What the marker says

Designed by noted east Texas architect Cornelius Granville Lancaster as a crown jewel of Marshall’s shopping district, the 1903 Elks Building served as the headquarters for lodge 683 of the Benevolent Paternal Order of Elks. Lodge 683 organized on April 19, 1901, at Newman Hall in downtown Marshall. Soon, a building committee was established and C.G. Lancaster was chosen as architect with the Moose Brothers as the builders. Organization activities such as meetings and events were held here until 1953 when the Elks Lodge moved to Austin and Alamo Streets. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark – 2017