Odd Fellows and Masonic Dance Hall/ Eagle Saloon

- Compiled by Karen Armagost, May, 2012

Quick Facts

Location:

401-403 South Rampart Street, New Orleans, Louisiana

OPEN TO PUBLIC:

No

Odd Fellows and Masonic Dance Hall/Eagle Saloon, built in 1850, is a three-story brick and stucco commercial building in the Neoclassical Revival style. Now on a largely vacant block in the Central Business District, it was historically in the South Rampart Street commercial and entertainment corridor, a flourishing area for African-Americans that also drew Jewish, Italian, and Chinese people. Until 1907, the first floor housed Jake Itzkovich’s Eagle Loan Office, where musicians pawned their instruments between gigs. When he relocated closer to Canal Street, Frank Douroux opened his second tavern on the block in 1908 and named it the Eagle Saloon, after the loan office.

In 1897 the Masonic and Odd Fellows Hall Association—formed of two African-American fraternal organizations—leased the third floor of the building. At the time, the parapet featured prominent shaped gables and finials, reminiscent of the Jacobean Revival Style. Sometime between 1922 and 1928, the current Classical Revival parapet was added and the three openings on the façade’s third story were lengthened to match those below. The Masons and Odd Fellows also occupied a second three-story building in the rear of this one, set at a right angle to it, since removed. They used the spaces for their main hall, a dance hall and meeting room, an eating area, a pool room, and living quarters for the building manager. Legendary cornetist Charles “Buddy” Bolden and his band played for dances in the ballroom, as did John Robichaux and Bunk Johnson.

The building represents an important social dance hall and gathering place for African-American musicians. The street in front of the building was also used by the Odd Fellows and Masons as a parade assembly point. After Bolden’s mental breakdown in 1907, Frankie Duson took over his original band, which congregated at the Eagle Saloon, under the name the Eagle Band. Other leading early jazz artists associated with the structure include Louis Armstrong, Johnny Dodds, Pops Foster, and Joe “King” Oliver. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.