History of the Elks
The moving spirit for the Elks was an Englishman named Charles Algernon Sidney Vivian. Born October 22, 1842, this son of a clergyman was a successful comic singer and dancer in the music halls of London. In November 1867, Vivian arrived in New York City to try his fortune.
Other actors and entertainers soon gravitated toward his magnetic personality. With everything closed on Sunday because of New York City Blue Laws, a group of theatrical people began meeting for their own amusement under Vivian's leadership. A loose organization was formed to make sure the larder was well-stocked for these gatherings. They called themselves the Jolly Corks, a name derived from a trick introduced by Vivian in which the uninitiated purchased a round of refreshments.
When one of their members died shortly before Christmas in 1867, leaving his wife and children destitute, the Jolly Corks decided that in addition to good fellowship, they needed a more enduring organization to serve those in need.
On February 16, 1868, they established the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and elected Vivian to head it. Its social activities and benefit performances increased the popularity of the new Order. Membership grew rapidly. Elks traveling to other cities spread the word of the Brotherhood of Elks. Soon there were requests for Elks Lodges in cities other than New York. In response to these appeals, the Elks asked the New York State legislature for a charter authorizing the establishment of a Grand Lodge with the power to establish local Lodges anywhere in the United States. When the Grand Lodge Charter was issued, the founders then received the first local charter as New York Lodge No. 1 on March 10, 1871.
SANTA ANA
William Tubbs was an amiable man filled with respect and feeling for his fellow citizens of Glenwood, Iowa. He had contributed much to the growth of his area through the Council Bluffs Lodge No. 531, but was ready for a change of scenery. The lure and glamour of Southern California called to him and he moved his family to Tustin, California. Yet he longed for the fraternity and fellowship he enjoyed as an Elk back home.
While there were several other fraternal organization about, there was no Elks lodge, so he took it upon himself to rectify the matter. He had only been in Orange County for a year when he formed a one-man delegation and attended the national Elks convention in Salt Lake City. Dispensation for a charter in Santa Ana was granted by Grand Lodge on June 2, 1902 and on the evening of July 14, 1902, the Santa Ana Lodge No 794 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was instituted at Spurgeon Hall with 46 charter members. On that evening, W. L. Tubbs was elected exalted ruler. For a short time, the lodge met in McFadden Hall, but on October 1902 they obtained a part time lease on the Odd Fellows Hall before leasing the newly constructed Hervery Building on West Fourth Street for $540 per year. This continued to be the lodge home until the leadership concluded that with the continual increase in membership, the lodge needed more room and a permanent building, a home of its own.
Santa Ana Elks Lodge's founder and first exalted ruler, W. L. Tubbs
Santa Ana Elks in the Carnival of Products Parade downtown on 4th Street. The annual parade was initiated in 1905 to celebrate the arrival of the Pacific Electric train in Santa Ana.
The Santa Ana Elks Lodge on Sycamore Street was built in 1911 for $30,000
In 1908, the lodge purchased a fifty-foot lot adjoining the city library on Sycamore Street as a site for a new lodge home. In no time, it was decided that the site wasn't big enough to accommodate a suitable building and another twenty-five feet of Sycamore Street frontage was purchased. Architect C. B. Bradshaw was employed to design the building and the construction contract was awarded for $25,001. Subsequent additions and alterations brought the total cost of the building to $30,000.
On the evening of June 14, 1910, the members of the lodge met at Elks Hall and formed a procession, each armed with a shovel. Preceeded by a brass band, the procession marched through the streets to the new site, where they raised the stars and stripes and broke ground. By 1911, the building was completed. The Santa Ana Register, under the headline "Structure is Marvel of Beauty" said "Orange County Elks may justly feel proud of the ownership of this beautiful and commodious home, which is a credit to the lodge and to the great Order of Elks and a splendid ornament to our city and county." By this time, the membership had grown to over 335 members. While the basement of the clubrooms was a bare dirt floor for more than two years, members were undaunted and gave countless town shows and minstrels to beautify the interior. In 1918, $18,000 was raised through the sale of life memberships at $150 each to complete the building inside and out. The lodge rapidly expanded in membership and prestige. In 1922, it was proposed that a pipe organ be installed in the lodge room. The matter was taken under advisement.
Clockwise: Boy Scouts pull the Santa Ana Elks float in the 1920 Armistice Day Parade; Elks Lodge builder Allison Honer places a full page ad in the Santa Ana Register congratulating the Elks on their new lodge in 1961; Elks leaders pose in front of the sign marking the location of the new lodge.
The lodge celebrated its 50 year anniversary in 1952 with a special edition of the Santa Ana Register and a week of festivities including a junbilee at which six living charter members of the order were honored.
Having outgrown the lodge building, a new building was constructed and dedicated in 1961. More than five years in the planning, the new million dollar lodge was unveiled on eight acres of land with 1,200 feet of frontage on Mabury Syreet overlooking the greenery of Prentice Park (now the Santa Ana Zoo.) The main building boasted 35,818 square feet (most of it laid with deep-pile, wall to wall carpeting) and contained a reading room, ballroom, and cocktail lounge with the county's longest bar, manned in party by a 12-year martini master. The lodge room had chairs for 375 members and hundreds more could be accommodated with folding chairs as circumstances warranted.
The new lodge was built with many new marvels including an air conditioning unit that vented out cigarette smoke every three minutes. The lodge secretary's desk contained a console for controlling microphones and a public address system which "would put a Cape Canaveral control room chief to shame." The ballroom was capable of serving more than 650 at one time and boasted large crystal chandeliers.
Clockwise: The Lodge built in 1961; Santa Ana Elks officers prepare for the groundbreaking. L to R Chairman of the Board of Trustees Bernie Dennis, Exalted Ruler Buck Kuhns, 3-year Trustee Norm Fisher, Exalted Ruler Elect Allen Bisbee, Building Co-Chairman Bob McCalla, and Past State President & District Leader Art Echternacht; Art Echternacht addresses the crowd at the ground breaking of the current lodge.
Fifty years later, the decision was made to sell the old Elks Lodge on what was by then renamed Elks Lane, and build a new modern lodge on a different plot of land. Two years were spent planning and designing, while the lodge moved into temporary quarters in what was previously a wine bar in downtown Santa Ana's Arts District and in 2018, ground was broken on a new building on Lyon Street.
Addressing the crowd at the opening was Claudio Gallegos representing Congressman Lou Correa. "Congratulations, you should all be proud. Elks have such along, rich tradition in our community. They have been part of the Santa Ana community for well over 100 years. While formed in 1902, they continue to be an asset to the community 117 years later." Art Echternacht of the California-Hawaii Elks Association reminisced on the progress the Santa Ana lodge has made. "We will continue to support the programs we have in the past and many new one in the future," he vowed. And so we do. We donate to special needs children. We promote drug awareness for teens. We honor police and firemen. We handed out over $50,000 in scholarships in 2024. We support our veterans.
In 1913, the Register boasted that "there is no organization in existence, of a fraternal character, that makes less of its charitable work or does more than the order of Elks. Once each year during the holiday season, when the poor are most in need, hundreds of baskets brimming with substantial foods and an assortment of good things of a dainty sort are distributed among the poor of Santa Ana. This is one way in which the fraternity scatters good cheer where good cheer is so sadly lacking. The Elks is of that type of humanity always ready to extend a helping hand where succor is needed; always ready to cheer the despondent and sooth the afflicted. He may not be an angel as angels are reckoned in this sordid old world, but he does it without asking for praise or that lime light of publicity he turned on his actions. Vive le Elks!"
And so it is today. Because Elks care, Elks share!
