by Edward Ellis, Special Correspondent
According to its Wikipedia entry, the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks “began in 1868 as a social club for minstrel show performers, called the Jolly Corks. It was established as a private club to elude New York City laws governing the opening hours of public taverns. The Elks borrowed rites and practices from Freemasonry.”
Within decades, the thriving BPOE was the impetus for the creation of magnificent buildings across the entire US. A structure bearing the organization’s name opened on the .48-acre corner of New Bern’s Middle and Pollock streets in 1908. Faced with yellow brick and terra cotta finery, the five-story 41,000 square foot cube was then and remains now the downtown’s largest business building.
Built by some of New Bern’s wealthiest men – the Blades brothers, William, James, and Charles – the Elks Temple Building housed business offices, a large department store, and a public library. With about 200 of the city’s leading businessmen as members, Elks Lodge 754 occupied the entire 8,200 square foot top floor where the head of an elk caught the eye of passers-by. One source described it as “unquestionably the handsomest lodge and club rooms in the entire South.”
For much of the twentieth century, the tallest building in town was the home of numerous medical, dental, and legal practices. A diner on the corner was a gathering spot six days a week.
The ornate arched windows of the ground floor and the fluted columns of the main entrance facing Pollock Street are elements of a classic architectural style of the last century called Beaux Art. The cost of construction in 1908 was put at $120,000. That would be about $3.6 million in today’s currency.