Side A: The commercial building that stood at 305 Main Street for over a century was built by Justus S. Law in 1897. On April 1, 1897, Law leased the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias joint-use of the third floor, rent-free, for 99 years after they completed its construction and added a slate roof to the building. Although the Pythians purchased the remainder of the building in 1921, they continued to share their “Castle Hall” with the Odd Fellows until 1965. In July 1974, the Pythians assigned their Pleasant City property to the Ohio Knights of Pythias Home in Springfield. From 1974 to 2012 the property exchanged private ownership multiple times until forfeited to the state in 2020. After the dilapidated Victorian building was demolished in 2021 the land was donated to the Village of Pleasant City.
Side B: The Dyson Lodge No. 816, Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), and Point Pleasant Lodge 595, Knights of Pythias, shared meeting space in Pleasant City from 1897 to 1965. While the mutual benefit society known as the Odd Fellows traces its origins to 18th century England, the Knights of Pythias is an American fraternal order founded in 1864 by Justus Henry Rathbone. When the IOOF Dyson Lodge (instituted August 16, 1894) consolidated with New Concord’s Lodge 761 in 1964, it quit its shared lease in Pleasant City the following spring. The Pythian Point Pleasant Lodge (formed September 15, 1892) remained active in the area until dissolving sometime after 1968. Pleasant City’s former “KofP Temple” successfully housed two fraternal organizations for almost seven decades.
Sponsors: The Guernsey County Commissioners, Guernsey County Land Reutilization Corporation, Guernsey County Historical Society, Ohio History Connection
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