amUSIngArtifacts

*Post written by Mona Meyer, Archives and Special Collections Metadata Librarian.

The location in question is on SE 1st St., at the corner with Locust St. In 1839 it held the Sherwood House, at that time Evansville’s largest hotel. It was remodeled in 1895, and razed less than 10 years later, circa 1904.

The replacement for this building was the Elks Lodge/Home/Club, built 1904-1906. Interestingly, there was another hotel nearby, and it’s said that that hotel owner offered the Elks some funding to build on this spot and thus eliminate the competition from another hotel. The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the United States of America is a fraternal organization that dates to 1868.

The Elks Club served as a hospital for both World War I and the Spanish influenza pandemic. The following four photographs, all from MSS 288, the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science Collection, show this function. These photographs are not specifically dated.

By 1973, a combination of declining membership, debt, and higher maintenance costs caused the Elks Club members to put their property on the market. In 1974 it was sold and reopened as the Upstage Dinner Theatre.

The night of January 16-17, 1977 the theatre burned to the ground. It was a bitterly cold night, with temperatures as low as 21 degrees below zero, with snow already on the ground. Firefighters had an extremely difficult time fighting the fire.

The building was eventually razed. According to a July 24, 1977 Evansville Courier and Press article by Tom Kunkel (p. 9), “Ralph Foster, chief investigator for the state fire marshals office, ruled the fire was arson apparently designed to cover up a theft. The fire apparently began, he said, in a basement liquor storage room where $1,000 was kept in a money box. All but about $15 was missing when fire officials began investigating the cause of the blaze. However, an investigation by police and fire officials into the Upstage fire has produced no clear suspects.” The article goes on to say that investigation was no longer being pursued as hard although the case remained open. No further information was found.

Stay tuned for more blogs about The Rise and Fall of other Evansville landmarks.