PART 2
The first meetings were held in the Odd Fellows Hall (also known as Town Hall) on “The Full-of-the-Moon” because there were no street lights. Meeting on the full moon provided light to see their way there. By the end of 1884 the membership had grown to 46. By the end of 1886, they were meeting in the Castleman Building (at the corner of University and Main St) on the second floor and the dining room was in the attic on the 3rdfloor. Note- no elevator, no electric lights. Electric lights weren’t installed until Evergreen was the mother lodge for the formation of a lodge in Elsinore in 1887 and another in South Riverside - now called Corona , called Temescal Lodge.
The two pillars in the NW corner of the lodge were purchased in 1892 for $83.50 - the ones we still have.
Wor. Kingsbury Sanborn , who served as Master in 1895 at the age of 31 , left his estate to Evergreen . He died in 1947.
In 1903 the property on the corner of Eleventh and Main St was purchased for $4000. In May, the Grand Lodge laid the cornerstone for the Courthouse across from the new lodge land. The architect for the new building , Francis Burnham , also designed the Carnegie Library and the Riverside County Courthouse. The cornerstone was laid in February of 1908 - eventually moved to our present location in 1976. The records show that the building cost $21,872 to build and donations were $20,618.
By 1905 membership had increased to 205. By 1908 membership had increased to 238 and by 1911 to 308.
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