12. Carnegie Library and Log Cabin

Stages of History IOOF Telephone

 

Bronze images of vintage telephones are featured on this panel, along with a pair of gavels referencing the countless meetings called to order in the venerable International Order of Odd Fellows Hall (I.O.O.F.). Symbols of the I.O.O.F., including a goblet, an eye, a dove, and the three-linked chain, decorate the sides of the panel. A ten-cent movie ticket refers to the Hall as the site of the very first movies shown in Edmonds.

I.O.O.F. Hall

The first benevolent fraternal organization in Edmonds, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.), was founded in April of 1891. Built a year after the incorporation of the town, the sturdy and spacious two-story wood frame building became a community center. Today, the taller section to the west is the original structure, with the attached two-story section to the east added in 1927.

The I.O.O.F. Hall was the heart of Edmonds' civic and social life for generations. Other organizations waiting to construct their own buildings found a temporary home within its walls. Countless meetings, ceremonies, classes, road shows, political rallies, conventions, gala dinners, and church services were held over the decades, and a myriad of commercial enterprises occupied the street level.

Edmonds Independent Telephone Co

In 1899, Edmonds granted the Sunset Telegraph and Telephone Company a franchise to provide telephone service to the community. The line meandered through the forest, using trees as telephone poles and therefore subject to predictably frequent interruptions from wind and weather.

By 1908, local businessmen and industrialists had run out of patience with unfulfilled promises for better service, and formed the Edmonds Independent Telephone Company under the management of Daniel M. Yost, who brought phone service up to modern standards.  In 1924, Yost built a new concrete telephone company building opposite the I.O.O.F. Hall. The Edmonds Independent Telephone Company operated into the early 1940s, with Yost still at the helm.