Dallas Lodge #44 was chartered July 4th, 1854 by the Grand Lodge of Texas Independent Order of Odd Fellows. For many years it was one of the largest and most active Odd Fellows lodges in the Southwest. We have met in a number of quarters over the span of Dallas’ history. Our first meeting place was over a carpenter’s shop near the town square, when Dallas was a small village of about 750 people. O
ur second home was the Odd Fellows Temple, built by La Reunion stonemason John Loupot at Main and Austin Streets. It was shared until 1892 with Trinity Lodge and Ridgeley Encampment and remained a vital gathering place until 1924 when our next building was constructed at 309 South Pearl. We sold the Pearl Street building in the 1970s and moved to our present site on Hampton Road in Oak Cliff. Our first Noble Grand was the Honorable John Jay Good, a Mississippi native who moved to Dallas in 1851. Good was involved in early local & state government & was a charter member of the local Odd Fellows lodge in 1854. He served the Confederacy in the Civil War as a Colonel of an artillery regiment. Good later became a District Judge & was elected as Mayor of Dallas in 1880. We’ve had many members over the years both famous and not-so-famous. District Judge T. Whitfield Davidson; Charles Kahn, Chief of the Dallas Volunteer Fire Department in the late 1870s; Texas Lieutenant Governor Barnett “Barney” Gibbs; and Past Grand Master W.T. Savage. Our lodge has produced four past grand masters and countless members and chairs of Grand Lodge Committees. Dallas Lodge #44 owned one half of the cemetery that now occupies Dallas Pioneer Cemetery, adjacent to the Dallas Convention Center. The land was sold to the City of Dallas in the 1920s and plots were reinterred at the Odd Fellows’ portion of Grove Hill Cemetery, located at 4118 Samuell Boulevard. Dallas Lodge #44 continues its command to “visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead, and educate the orphan” and celebrated 160 years of history and tradition in 2014. We invite you to become a part of our lodge membership. While membership requires belief in a supreme being, we do not inquire into the applicant’s particular choice of faith or belief, nor do we permit religious discussions in our lodge room. We admit women and men of good moral character who will follow the commands of Odd Fellowship to visit the Sick, relieve the distressed, to bury the dead, to educate the orphan, and to protect and care for the aged and widowed. If you would like to join our ranks and become an Odd Fellow please call, email, or visit us in person. Ask for our application or print it from the link below. If you found us through a search and have questions feel free to use our contact form. We will get back with you as soon as possible. Around the world, the Odd Fellows undertake various community and charitable projects. According to an IOOF Sovereign Grand Lodge brochure, the organization's works include:
*The Odd Fellows and Rebekahs spend over US$775 million in relief projects annually
*The Educational Foundation provides substantial loans and grants to students
*SOS Children's Village provides a caring home for orphaned children in 132 countries around the world
*Odd Fellow and Rebekah Homes provide a caring environment for the elderly
*Living Legacy focuses on planting trees and enhancing the environment
*The Arthritis Foundation
*Visual Research Foundation supports vision care and research through the Wilmer Eye Institute
*United Nations Pilgrimage for Youth sponsors a group of students for an educational trip to the United Nations
*Annual pilgrimages to the "Tomb of the Unknowns" (Arlington National Cemetery, USA), Canadian War Memorial, Ottawa, ON, and other Tombs of the Unknown Soldier.
*Odd Fellow and Rebekah Homes provides a caring environment for the elderly and orphans
*Odd Fellow and Rebekah camps and parks provide recreation for the youth and for families
