Keep Bothell Odd - open house May 21, 2024

Bothell, WA: On Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at 7:30pm, the public is invited to Bothell Lodge #124 of the International Order of Odd Fellows, 10116 NE 185th St, for an open house. 

Historian Richard Heisler will share the story of the Civil War roots of Bothell's namesake family and their journey westward, from Pennsylvania to western Washington. 

Richard will also explain how thousands of Civil War veterans made the Seattle area their home in the decades following the conflict. From the battlefields of Virginia to the banks of the Sammamish River, Civil War history is not as far away as we might think. 

Richard Heisler is the founder of Civil War Seattle and Seattle History Tours. He has presented for many regional and national organizations museums, including the Bothell Historical Society, Pacific Northwest Historians Guild, and Puget Sound Civil War Roundtable. 

He is a contributing writer for Emerging Civil War and a resident of the Seattle area for over 30 years. Historical artifacts, a tour of the hall, musical entertainment by The Swinging 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 Bothell and James Brackett (of Brackett’s Landing). Clover Leaf Rebekah Lodge #54 was chartered in 1893 so that the wives and daughters of Odd Fellows, and others 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. 

The Odd Fellows took over management of the Bothell Pioneer Cemetery in 1902 and in 1908 a fire burned down the original lodge hall, destroying both lodge and city records. 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. 

For more information contact Penny Curtis, theoddquilter@gmail.com