There are some truly great buildings in Oregon and I am
always surprised when driving from Point A to Point B to stumble across
something exceptional for the first time.
Long ago somebody wrote a book on residential architecture that was
entitled “A Gift to the Street,” or something like that, meaning a building
that everyone benefitted from, even if it was built for a specific purpose and
owner. There is such a gift in Linn County, on Richardson
Gap Road east of Scio, on the way to the Larwood Covered Bridge (another gift,
let me assure you). As I was heading north, I saw a large, white, boxy thing in the distance and
thought “What the heck is THAT?”
It was, like the sign says, the Z. C. B. J. Lodge, a
fraternal order of Czech-Americans, that was built in the early 20th century (1911) according to the National Register listing. It’s a great building, made all the greater
because of where it is located, in the middle of still largely rural, sparsely
populated, part of the county. Sure, it
has great architecture (notice the dentil-like projections on the boxed
soffit?) and the great wide frieze and all those other Classic Revival elements
that make buildings like this so familiar.
But what I think is REALLY great is what it says about the people and
the community that built it. There must
have been a LOT of Czech-Americans in the Richardson Gap Road area at the turn
of the 20th century. And they
must have had not only a strong community but every expectation that it would
survive and grow. Why else would they
have built such a large and imposing structure?
I don’t know what happened to them, or why the Lodge was
apparently converted to a private dwelling at some point. I don’t know why (but appreciate) that nobody ever painted over the old sign on the north-facing elevation. But I am betting that nobody in Lodge No. 224
ever expected that a future use of their fine lodge hall would be as a
basketball court.
ADDED:
Here is a great link on the history of the Czech community in the Scio area, including some more detailed information on the Lodge....thanks, readers, for sending this along!
Czech Footprints in Oregon
ADDED:
Here is a great link on the history of the Czech community in the Scio area, including some more detailed information on the Lodge....thanks, readers, for sending this along!
Czech Footprints in Oregon
Here's the nomination form for the National Register. Here's its wikipedia entry, with links to additional images.
ReplyDeleteThanks CT... I searched on the address and found the nomination, but appreciate the link for anyone that is interested.
ReplyDelete