In early 1922, the Knights of Pythias Grand Lodge of Washington and Oregon dedicated considerably to Vancouver. The lodge had determined to construct a retirement residence someplace inside 50 miles of Portland and Vancouver. In response to letters from the lodge’s chief in late 1922, after contemplating a number of websites inside that radius, the group chosen land on North Predominant Avenue between at this time’s thirty third and thirty seventh streets.
Based mostly on a Greek fantasy of two brothers, Damon and Pythias, whose mutual devotion allow them to threat their lives for one another, the nonprofit’s mission has promoted the beliefs of loyalty, honor, friendship and relieving struggling since its 1864 founding. In the present day, the nondenominational group runs an energetic senior middle, the Knights of Pythias Lively Retirement Heart, which gives consolation to getting older members of the area people. The order has practically 2,000 properties in the USA.
Efforts to construct the Vancouver residence started greater than a century in the past. In December 1921, Edward Davis, lodge grand chancellor, wrote to Clinton Fleet, a Pasco member, apologizing for being late along with his $5 constructing fund donation — and supplied a kind letter requesting $5 from members. On Jan. 3, 1922, Davis talked about in a letter to the lodge’s officers and members that they had been constructing “in the vicinity of Vancouver.” Some Oregon members had been sad with that call. So the following day, the Pythian Residence Web site Committee issued a members’ letter explaining the house would stand on “Washington soil.”
In March 1923, The Columbian interviewed lodge member John Elwell, who defined the development outlay for 2 buildings was a half-million {dollars}. He stated the lodges in Oregon and Washington had saved cash for 20 years to construct such a house. Elwell described the deliberate facility as trendy “in every way” with gasoline, electrical energy and sewer connections. The primary constructing, a three-story brick administration middle and as much as 50 rooms for older adults, would value $130,000.
