09/06/2026
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows in the United States adopted a model of building "Community Homes" to support the fraternal organization's mission to care for the sick, relieve the distressed, and educate orphans. Planning for Frederick’s Odd Fellow’s Home began in June of 1921 following 117 consecutive nights of speeches delivered by local attorney Henry Dorsey Etchison, the retiring grand master of the Frederick Odd Fellows Lodge. Etchison was fervently committed to promoting the facility and raising funds toward the purpose. The Maryland Odd Fellows lodges eventually raised nearly $500,000 to fund the effort.
Construction crews laid the cornerstone in August 1923 and the IOOF took possession of the finished facility in February 1925; Governor Albert Ritchie spoke at its formal dedication ceremony in July of the same year. The original campus on North Market Street included three red-brick, Colonial Revival structures designed by Joseph Evans Sperry, serving respectively as an orphanage, the community home, and the lodge. The lodge hosted member meetings but also commonly was the site for social and political events, dances, and musical performances. Frederick’s Odd Fellows Home closed in 2003 after nearly 80 years serving the community.
P1206 Photography Collection, Frederick County Archives and Research Center, Heritage Frederick
