101 South Merritt Mill Road

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Elks Lodge
101 South Merritt Mill Road
1954

The Elks Lodge, meeting hall for the IBPOEW Pride of Orange 276 and Queen Esther Temple 696, is a significant reminder of the vibrant African American community located here on the western edge of Chapel Hill in the twentieth century. The narrow two-story, front-gabled building, constructed of concrete block, is located on South Merritt Mill Road just south of West Franklin Street. Built in 1954 in the customary form of African American fraternal lodges throughout North Carolina, the upper story holds the society meeting hall. The facade is covered with brick veneer.

Sources: 1957–1962 City Directories; Roland Giduz, telephone conversation with the author, May 4, 2004.

SOURCE: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1795-1975 (Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 2006), 223.