Bothell, WA: On Tuesday, March 19, 2024, at 7:30pm, Bothell Lodge #124 of the International Order of Odd Fellows, will host an open house, the first in a series of three.
This evening’s presentation will be “Mr Bothell, secret handshakes, and the heart of the community”.
Presentations in April and May will be on Bothell’s Civil War history and on the Bothell Pioneer Cemetery. Learn about Bothell history and its relationship with Odd Fellows and other social and fraternal organizations. Historical artifacts, a tour of the hall, musical entertainment by The Swingin’ Patriarchs, and light refreshments will be available.
Odd Fellows have been the social heart of communities across America for over 200 years. Bothell Lodge #124, chartered in 1892, played a significant role in the history of Bothell, and today is the longest continuously operating organization in Bothell.
Its founding members include John Moore, Frank Frost, B. L. Anderson, John Bothell, Charles W. Lantham, and James Brackett (of Brackett’s Landing).
Cloverleaf Rebekah Lodge #54 was chartered in 1893 so that the wives and daughters of Odd Fellows, and any other interested women in the community, could become a part of the Odd Fellows organization.
Early Rebekahs also played an active role in the growing Bothell community, with one of the founders, Alice Bothell, having previously organized Bothell’s first Sunday School in her home in 1885.
Since the founding of these two lodges by Bothell pioneers, there have been many contributions and a few challenges.
The Odd Fellows took over management of the Bothell Pioneer Cemetery in 1902 on land donated by George Wilson, In 1908 a fire in Bothell burned down the original Odd Fellows lodge hall along with several other buildings, destroying both lodge and city records.
The current hall, 10116 NE 185th Street, was built in 1911 and is currently owned and operated by the Cloverleaf Rebekah Lodge #55.
A report of the lodge’s possible demise was published in the Northshore Citizen on 4/4/1990, but to paraphrase Mark Twain, the report of its death was greatly exaggerated.
The (secret) grip of Odd Fellowship remains unbroken in Bothell, and the lodge is looking forward to sharing its history and its future with members of our community.
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