When I was growing up in Bridgeville, I knew that fraternal/social clubs – the Owls Club and the Italian Club, for example – were an important part of the community’s culture. Initially I thought their prime purpose was to provide a place for thirsty men to get around the Blue Laws and enjoy a glass of wine or a shot and a beer on Sundays. Later I realized that they truly were fraternal organizations that existed so men with similar interests could socialize comfortably. It is not clear when the first lodge or club was organized in Bridgeville. The photograph of “Billy Winstein’s Store” in the Bridgeville Area Historical Society book “Bridgeville” includes a sign “Murray Hall” displayed on the second floor. The text of the rest of the sign is illegible in the photograph; I have long suspected that it contained detail about some fraternal organization that used the Hall – Freemasons, perhaps.
We do know that an Odd Fellows Lodge was established in 1903 in a room on the second floor of Poellot’s (now Sarasnick’s) Hardware with J. C. F. Franks leading it as “Noble Grand”. Early lodge members included W. F. Russell, R. L McMillen, W. J. Winstein, and S. W. Patton, among others. The next year they held “the first Decoration Day Parade in Bridgeville”, led by their own brass band. Their involvement in the building at 535 Baldwin Street currently occupied by the Owls Club is a mystery. The building has the date 1902 and the initials “I.O.O.F” on its front and, according to “Bridging the Years, Volume I”, the Odd Fellows were still meeting in it in 1951, although it had been taken over by the Owls Club in 1918.
In 1906 a group of men wishing to preserve their German heritage met in Charles Wagner’s home and organized a club led by Frank Browner. It was “chartered under Der Deutsche Orden der Harugari”, a national German-American mutual benefit and cultural association dating back to 1847. This apparently was the source of the nickname, “Dutch Club”, by which their facility was known for most of its life. In 1908 the local organization erected a building at 929 McLaughlin Run Road to serve as its headquarters. In 1911 the club’s name officially became the German-American Independent Beneficial Society, a name that survived until World War II, when it became the American Independent Beneficial Society. Up until 1926 all its meetings were conducted in the German language. By 1951 it had been so thoroughly Americanized that it boasted “four bowling alleys, a ping-pong table, and a large screen television set”, in addition to sponsoring a softball team. There is no mention of the society in later volumes of “Bridging the Years”; we presume it had been disbanded by 1976.
In 1910 a group of men interested in organizing a society of men of Italian descent, led by Frank Truzzi, obtained a charter from Allegheny County as the Italian Mutual Beneficial Society. Initially they met at Domenic Collavo’s residence on Baldwin Street. In 1922 they constructed the building at 414 Margaret Street that continues to serve as the Society’s home. Like other beneficial societies they provided sick and death benefits to all regular members. By 1976, according to “Bridging the Years, Volume II”, the Society had 500 members, of which 200 were social members. The Italian Club was well known for its Bocce courts and Morra tournaments, and for generous hard candy treats for children on holidays. Fortunately, it is still alive and well and faithfully preserving the Italian-American heritage.
Another Bridgeville social club that has survived into the twenty-first century is the Owls Club. Officially known today as the Reliable Fraternal Association, it began in 1911 when a group of men led by Wilbur S. Allender organized a society as part of the national Order of Owls. In 1918 they moved into the aforementioned IOOF Building. At the same time they severed their connection with the national Owls organization, allegedly because they felt they weren’t getting sufficient benefit from the national dues they were paying. In 1932 they were re-chartered as the Reliable Fraternal Association with the stated mission “to provide a grill room for its members and to pay sick and death benefits”. They too sponsored sports teams.
Following World War I, veterans organized the American Legion. In 1919, led by Ozro Barclay, Post 54 was established in Bridgeville. After meeting in a number of venues, the Post built its present home at the corner of Station Street and Shady Avenue. In addition to functioning as a social club for its members, Post 54 continues to provide community services on patriotic holidays and to honor individual veterans.
Bridgeville’s two “Granish” Clubs did an excellent job serving the Slovenian-American community throughout most of the twentieth century. The “Little Granish” Club was established in 1916 as Lodge #295 of the Slovene National Benefit Society, more commonly called “SNPJ”; they constructed a home on Ridge Avenue on Fryer’s Hill in 1925. In 2005 Lodge #295 was merged into SNPJ Lodge #6 in Sygan, an organization that is still prospering today.
The “Big Granish” Club, formally known as the Slovenian Mutual Beneficial Aid Society, was organized in 1922 and built a facility at 202 Liberty Street (currently occupied by “One Church”) on Cook’s Hill. Officially chartered in 1924, the club aimed to enlighten their members culturally and to provide sickness and death benefits to them. It apparently had no national affiliation. We are not certain when it went out of existence.
These clubs filled a number of obvious needs for Bridgeville in general, and in particular for minorities struggling to retain some of their heritage and culture while being assimilated into the great American melting pot. It is surprising how little we (the Historical Society) know about their history. Perhaps some of the readers of this column can help remedy that by contributing their memories.