Paris Elks Lodge No. 812 Building | |
 | |
   | |
| Location | 111 E. Washington St., Paris, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°36′47″N87°41′38″W / 39.61306°N 87.69389°W Coordinates: 39°36′47″N87°41′38″W / 39.61306°N 87.69389°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1927 |
| Architect | Blackman, Everett |
| Architectural style | Mediterranean Revival |
| NRHP reference # | 87001343 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | August 6, 1987 |
The Paris Elks Lodge No. 812 Building is a historic building located at 111 E. Washington St. in Paris, Illinois. The building served as a meeting place for the Paris lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. The building was constructed in 1927, 25 years after the Paris Lodge was chartered. Architect Everett Blackman, a member of the lodge, designed the building in the Mediterranean Revival style. Blackman's design features an arcade loggia enclosing the front entrance and a square tower with a parapet roof designed to resemble elk antlers. The building's amenities included a bar and ballroom on the second floor, a bowling alley in the basement, and meeting rooms for the lodge. The third floor of the building housed rooms for the adjacent France Hotel; it was connected to the hotel by a stone walkway and cannot be accessed from the lower floors. The Elks used the building until the lodge filed for bankruptcy in 1978. [2]
Paris is a city in Paris Township, Edgar County, Illinois, 165 miles (266 km) south of Chicago and 90 miles (140 km) west of Indianapolis. In 1900, 6,105 people lived in Paris; in 1910, 7,664; and in 1940, 9,281. The population was 8,837 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Edgar County.
Illinois is a state in the Midwestern and Great Lakes region of the United States. It has the fifth largest gross domestic product (GDP), the sixth largest population, and the 25th largest land area of all U.S. states. Illinois is often noted as a microcosm of the entire United States. With Chicago in northeastern Illinois, small industrial cities and immense agricultural productivity in the north and center of the state, and natural resources such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a diverse economic base, and is a major transportation hub. Chicagoland, Chicago's metropolitan area, encompasses over 65% of the state's population. The Port of Chicago connects the state to international ports via two main routes: from the Great Lakes, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois Waterway to the Illinois River. The Mississippi River, the Ohio River, and the Wabash River form parts of the boundaries of Illinois. For decades, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport has been ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and, through the 1980s, in politics.
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks is an American fraternal order founded in 1868 originally as a social club in New York City. Membership was originally restricted to white men, but the organization now has a more inclusive membership policy.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 6, 1987. [1]
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.
