921 1st Avenue was built in 1901. It is now the Fraternal Order of Eagles (F.O.E.) Hall.
The Fraternal Order Of Eagles hall at 921 1st Avenue was added to the Ladysmith Community Heritage Register in 2014.
Here is a map showing the location of 921 1st Avenue:
Here is a Google Street View image of 921 1st Avenue:
Description of Historic Place
The Eagle’s Hall is a one-storey, wood-clad building located on a corner of Ladysmith’s main commercial thoroughfare. The historic place is confined to the building footprint.
The Ladysmith Eagle’s Hall is valued for its association with a long line of significant owners and tenants who all played important roles in the history of the community.
The first occupant was the Ladysmith Leader, the town’s first newspaper. A succession of other newspapers occupied the premises until 1912 when operations were moved to a new building.
The building next served as a barracks to house the militia who were brought in to restore order after the Great Miner’s Strike riots of 1913. The building remained a barracks during the First Word War, this time housing the Irish Fusiliers.
After the war, the building served as the meeting hall for the Native Sons and Daughters and, later still, it became the Eagle’s Hall.
Whether a newspaper office, a barracks or a community meeting hall, the building represents different phases in the community’s development and, as such, is an important tangible reminder of its heritage.
Built in 1901, the Eagle’s Hall has had renovations and additions, including extensions to both the north and south elevations, but its overall character and scale remain substantially intact.
Generally modest in scale and detail, the building is valued as a good example of an early, vernacular commercial and institutional structure.
The Eagle’s Hall is valued as part of a grouping of historic buildings adjacent to the commercial core of Ladysmith and contributes substantially to the heritage character of the area.
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of the Eagle’s Hall include:
- – all of the elements of the original building including the wood siding, gable roof and one storey height
- – the building’s location within a group of historic buildings adjacent to the commercial core