The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded in Washington, D.C., on 19 February 1864. The Knights of Pythias is the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was founded by Justus H. Rathbone, who had been inspired by a play by the Irish poet John Banim about the legend of Damon and Pythias. This legend illustrates the ideals of loyalty, honor, and friendship that are the center of the order.
The Pythian Home of Missouri, also known as Pythian Castle, in Springfield, Missouri, was built in 1913 by the Knights of Pythias and later owned by the U.S. military. German and Italian prisoners-of-war were assigned here during World War II for medical treatment and as laborers. Some prisoners were kept in the detached powerhouse and laundry room behind the castle. The laundry room is still owned by the U.S. Army.
Virginia City Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District encompassing the former mining villages of Virginia City and Gold Hill, both in Storey County, as well as Dayton and Silver City, both to the south in adjacent Lyon County, Nevada, United States. Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961, the district is one of only six in the state of Nevada.
The Pythian Opera House, also known historically as the Knights of Pythias Hall, Boothbay Harbor Opera House and The Opera House, and formally as The Opera House at Boothbay Harbor, is a historic meeting hall and multifunction building at 86 Townsend Avenue in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Built in 1894, it has housed government offices of the town, and the meeting spaces of fraternal organizations, prior to its present use as a performance venue. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 30, 2008.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Performing and Cultural Arts Complex is a historic building in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. It was built in 1925 as the Pythian Temple and James Pythian Theater, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places and Columbus Register of Historic Properties in 1983. The building was renovated into the King Arts Complex in 1987, and was vacated in 2019. Community leaders restored the building's use as an arts center in 2021.
The Knights of Pythias Building is an historic three-story redbrick Knights of Pythias building located at 315 Main Street in Fort Worth, Texas. Also known as the Knights of Pythias Castle Hall, it was built in 1901 on the site of an 1881 structure, the first Pythian Castle Hall ever built, which had burned earlier the same year. The building housed the city's first offset printing press and coin-operated laundry. On April 28, 1970, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The building is also a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (RTHL). In 1981 it was restored and is now part of the Sundance Square area of downtown Fort Worth. The lead tenant in the building today is Haltom's Jewelers.
The Pythian Castle is a historic 3-story brick and stone Knights of Pythias building located at 610-612 Court Street in Portsmouth, Virginia. Built between 1897 and 1898 for the Atlantic Lodge, Knights of Pythias, it was designed by architect Edward Overman in the Romanesque Revival style of architecture. Like many multistory urban fraternal buildings built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, its street floor was rented out for retail and office spaces while the upper floors were reserved for lodge use. In 1908 a single-story brick and stone Romanesque Revival addition was built to the north of the original building. In 1979 the Pythian Castle was sold by the knights. On October 30, 1980, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Today the ground floor is a Mexican eatery.
The Knights of Pythias Building, also known as the Knights of Pythias Hall is an historic Knights of Pythias lodge hall located in Virginia City, Nevada, United States. It was built of cast iron and stuccoed brick in 1876 by Nevada Lodge No. 1 of the Knights of Pythias, which had been formed on March 23, 1873. It was also used the city's other Knights of Pythias lodges: Lincoln Lodge No. 6 formed in 1874, and Triumph Lodge No. 11 formed in 1879. It is one of the few unaltered false-fronted buildings remaining in Virginia City. The Knights of Pythias Building is a contributing property in the Virginia City Historic District which was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
The Masonic Temple is a historic Masonic temple in the village of Mechanicsburg, Ohio, United States. Built in the 1900s for a local Masonic lodge that had previously met in a succession of buildings owned by others, it is the last extant Mechanicsburg building constructed for a secret society, whether Masonic or otherwise, and it has been designated a historic site because of its well-preserved American Craftsman architecture.
The Knights of Pythias Building and Theatre, also known as K. of P. Building, is a historic building located at Greensburg, Decatur County, Indiana. It was built in 1899 by the Knights of Pythias, and is a three-story brick building that includes Early Commercial and Italianate style design elements. A four-story theater was added to the original building in 1908. The theater closed in 1958.
The Knights of Pythias Pavilion in Franklin, Tennessee, also known as Carlisle House, is a Classical Revival architecture building designed by Henry Gibel and built in 1897. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
The Eagle Harbor Schoolhouse is a school located at the corner of Third and Center Streets in Eagle Harbor, Michigan, United States. It is significant as the location where Justus H. Rathbone was first inspired to write the ritual which was the basis of the Order of the Knights of Pythias. The schoolhouse was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1971 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It is also known as the Pythian Shrine and as the Rathbone School.
Ware & Treganza was a leading American architectural firm in the intermountain west during the late 19th and early 20th century. It was a partnership of Walter E. Ware and Alberto O. Treganza and operated in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Samuel H. Allen Home is a historic house located at 135 E. 200 North in Provo, Utah. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Henry Gassaway Davis House, also known as the Knights of Pythias Lafayette Lodge Number 3 and Calanthe Temple #8 Pythian Sisters, is a historic home located at Piedmont, Mineral County, West Virginia. It was built in 1871, for U.S. Senator and vice presidential nominee Henry G. Davis (1823–1916). It is a three-bay, four-story Second Empire style brick duplex. It has a simple mansard roof and 12 gabled pedimented dormer windows on the concave slopes. The front façade features dual stone-and-slate stairs, ascending to two centered paired six-by-nine-foot framed one-story entry porches.
The Smith and Weller Building, also known as the Knights of Pythias Hall, was a historic building located in New London, Iowa, United States. Charles W. Smith and C.B. Weller bought the lot on which the building sat for $300 in 1872. The building itself was built sometime before 1879 when Smith and Weller sold the lot to Sam Keiser and W.S. Workman for $2,500. The structure was designed in the Italianate style and featured simple brick-patterned arches. Keiser and his wife owned the building until 1907 when they sold it to the Knights of Pythias for their lodge. A hardware store occupied the main floor and the lodge was on the second floor. The Knights of Pythias sold the building in 1946 to Otis and Mae Maginnis. The building housed a bar in the intervening years. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003, and it was delisted in 2020. The building was demolished in 2020.
Martinsville Historic District is a national historic district located at Martinsville, Virginia. It encompasses 94 contributing buildings, 1 contributing site, and 3 contributing structures in the central business district of Martinsville. The buildings range in date from the early-19th century through the mid- 20th century and include notable examples of the Romanesque, Federal, and Colonial Revival styles. Notable buildings include the Henry County Courthouse (1824), People's Bank (1891), Globman's Department Store, Ford Building (1908), U.S. Post Office (1939), the Masonic Temple, the Henry Hotel (1921), the Martinsville Hotel, First National Bank Building (1925), the Knights of Pythias Building (1922), Oakley Apartment / Office Building (1935), the Chief Tassel Building (1930), First United Methodist Church of Martinsville (1922), Richardson's Motor Co., Gravely Pin Factory (1907), and Sale Knitting Plant (1937).
The Julius Freed House is a historic house in Trenton, Tennessee. It was built in 1871-1872 for Prussian-born Confederate veteran and Klansman Julius Freed. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Samuel W. Starks was an African American community leader who achieved national prominence through his leadership in the fraternal order the Knights of Pythias. Starks was the first African American to serve as a state librarian when he was appointed as the West Virginia state librarian in 1901.
