DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, in my own words. Now, every town worth its salt has got a building that carried the social life of the whole community on its shoulders, and Del Rio's version of that building is this one right here — the Elks Lodge Hall. Lodge 837 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks put this hall up in 1916.
They brought in a local builder named Martin Brauer, who provided the plans, and what he drew up wasn't your ordinary fraternal meeting box. This building carries the influences of Prairie Style architecture — that low, sloping hipped roof, overhanging eaves with exposed rafters reaching out like the place is stretching its arms after a long day. Paired French doors.
A second floor balcony held up by brick piers. Whoever commissioned those plans wanted something that looked like it meant to stay. And it did stay.
Before this hall went up, there was already a structure on this site — a place called Gildea Hall — and the Elks replaced it when they built their own. So this corner had already been in the business of gathering people together before 1916 even rolled around. Once the new hall was standing, it served as the kind of place a community runs on.
Meetings, dances, functions of every stripe. For decades, Lodge 837 held its life inside these walls. Then came the 1980s.
The members constructed a new facility — as organizations do when they grow, or when the times shift — and the old hall stepped back from active duty after carrying that load for the better part of a century. Some buildings retire quietly. This one just stands here on the corner, eaves still reaching, brick piers still holding that balcony up, looking like it remembers every dance that ever happened inside it.
And I'd wager it does.
What the marker says
Elks Lodge Hall Lodge 837 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks built this meeting hall in 1916 from plans provided by local builder Martin Brauer. It replaced an earlier structure, Gildea Hall, at this site. The Elks Lodge hall exhibits influences of the Prairie Style of architecture in its use of a low, sloping hipped roof and overhanging eaves with exposed rafters. Other features include paired French doors and a second floor balcony supported by brick piers. The hall provided space for meetings, dances and other community functions, and served the Elks Lodge until the 1980s, when members constructed a new facility. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2003