Charleroi Elks Lodge Founders also built the borough
Scott Beveridge
A collection of photos of early members of the Charleroi Elks is among the artifacts that were offered at auction.
Scott Beveridge
A chair reserved for the Charleroi Elks’ officer known as the esteemed lecturing knight whose cardinal principal was brotherly love.
Scott Beveridge
The grand meeting room in the Charleroi Elks Lodge 494
Scott Beveridge/Observer-Reporter
A bar in what was once the dance hall in Charleroi Elks Lodge 494
CHARLEROI – A century-old collection of photographs of founding members of Charleroi Elks Lodge 494 includes names that would be recognized by local historians as a who’s who of the borough’s rich and famous.
Robert Coyle, who established the now-demolished Coyle Theater, is among them as was J.W. McKean, whose family name appears on main streets in the downtowns of Charleroi and nearby Donora.
“The members of Charleroi Elks made Charleroi,” said Stan Welsh, a trustee who has been assigned the task of disposing of the assets of the disbanded and ornate Charleroi Elks.
The clubhouse at 301 Fallowfield Ave. is historic for many reasons, including its having former Pennsylvania Gov. John K. Tener as a charter member.
Tener went on to be a grand exalted ruler of the Elks in 1907 as fellow member J.E. Masters did in 1922. Welsh said it’s rare for any lodge to produce two men who become something akin to president of the national Elks, especially in the Mon Valley.
The founders of the Charleroi Elks had great wealth and most of them were young entrepreneurs in 1901, when its headquarters was built, said Nikki Sheppick of the Charleroi Area Historical Society.
The McKean family sold off its farm to create the boom town in the late 1800s, a borough that grew so quickly that it was nicknamed the “Magic City.”
“A lot of them became millionaires out of this,” Sheppick said.
She said many of them built country manor homes on Lincoln Avenue, which became known as Millionaire’s Row.
They called the Charleroi houses manors because the families had bigger homes somewhere else, Sheppick said.
Tener was believed to have been the first professional baseball player to be elected to Congress, according to a story about him in The National Magazine in 1912 when he was governor.
The writer followed him around “a pretty town” before they ducked into a motion picture show, possibly Charleroi’s Palace Theater, which was the fourth motion picture house to open in the United States. Tener remarked that the building was a model for the nation for having open exits and “one of the best fireproof auditoriums in the country.”
An image of P.E. Donner also appeared in the Elks membership roster. He was an officer of the Webster, Monessen, Belle Vernon and Fayette City Railway. A main street through downtown Monessen also bears the Donner family name.
The Elks disbanded in August after attempts were made to bring in new members and business. The building will be sold at auction Tuesday, beginning at noon.
Welsh said he’s been collecting artifacts from the building, including John McKean’s gavel and Tener’s commission as grand exalted ruler.
Some of the items will be given to the national Elks, the state headquarters and local historical society.
Welsh said he’s confident the building with ornate fireplaces and chandeliers will attract a buyer.
“I hope someone really good gets it and restores it,” Sheppick said.