The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was one of the most popular organizations in the golden age of lodges; this particular lodge seems to have been influential enough to have the street renamed for it. The same social forces that have diminished our other clubs and our churches have caused many of the Elks Lodges to close, and this building now belongs to a law firm.
Addendum: The architect was John H. Phillips of McKees Rocks, a prolific designer of schools and other public buildings in suburban boroughs. The lodge was built in 1911 to replace an earlier Elks Temple destroyed by fire. Source: “Proposed Temple of Carnegie Elks,” Gazette, June 18, 1911, where the architect’s rendering is printed.
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