Opera House
and
IOOF Lodge
This brick building was constructed in 1892 as a two-story structure. At the time, it had a tower at both the northeast and northwest corners and other embellishments of the neo-Gothic style.
In 1924 the towers and other decorations were removed and a third story added.
The first floor of the building has always been rented as a commercial space. The first tenant was an opera house which gave its first production in 1893
International Order of the Odd Fellows Hall Philetarian Lodge #8 was chartered March 9, 1859.
Some of the officers of the Lodge were notable citizens of Douglas County, including John Fullerton, James F. Gazley, and E.M. Moore. The Lodge met in the Masonic Hall at the southwest corner of Douglas and Rose Streets until 1892 when the subject building was constructed. The Lodge is considered the "mother lodge" of other in Douglas County.
The Opera House was advertised as the best outside of Portland. The Calhoun Opera Company played 'Said Pasha' on February 16, 1893 as the first opera in Roseburg.
The stage was elaborately decorated, and ladies wore their finest hats to see the plays (and at one point had to be told to leave them on their laps so people could see the stage).
Minstrel shows, beauty pageants, traveling medicine acts, wrestling matches and more were seen here until the 1930s.
The Ku Klux Klan recruited heavily in Roseburg in the 1920s. They met at least once in the I.O.O.F Lodge.
They would have parades down Jackson Street.
Excerpt from a talk on racism in Roseburg given in 1976 by Lavola Bakken. The full transcript is at the Douglas County Museum.
