The Street Seen: Elks At Ocean & Arizona
1257 Ocean Avenue @ Arizona
From 1905 to 1912 the Santa Monica Elks clubhouse is a large home built in 1893 on the North East Corner of Ocean and Arizona Avenues.
In 1893, Doria Jones (1824 – 1908),12 a wealthy Los Angeles widow and real estate investor, builds a 2-story house with 14 rooms3 on the vacant lot on the corner of Ocean and Arizona.4
Doria Jones lives there until 1897, when the property becomes The Anchorage boarding house. In 1900, Los Angeles wholesale wine and liquor merchant H. J. Woollacott (1858 – 1910)5 buys the Doria Jones house intending to make it his residence.
In August 1904, soon after its founding,6 the Santa Monica Elks Lodge No. 906 buys7 from Woollacott for $9,0008 the Doria Jones house as a members’ clubhouse.
By 1910 it is clear that the Elks clubhouse is too small for the growing membership. In 1911, real estate developer Carl F. Schader (1870 - 1934) donates a site on Ocean Ave near Pico9 for a new combined lodge and clubhouse. In 1912, to help finance the new clubhouse, the Elks sell the Doria Jones house for $15,000 to East Coast new arrival E.P. Benjamin (1853 - 1917)10 who takes immediate possession of the building. Construction of the new $29,000 Santa Monica Elks Lodge No. 906 clubhouse near Pico begins in 1912.
In 1913, E.P. Benjamin sells the Doria Jones house to flypaper inventor and recent Los Angeles arrival Otto Thum (1865 - 1943)11 for $18,000. Thum intends to develop the site, and in 1916 builds a 5-cottage bungalow court.
The bungalow court is still there in 1950 – but is gone by 1963.
In 1980, Lawrence Welk’s12 11-story Wilshire Palisades (the final building of "Lawrence Welk Plaza") is built on the corner of Ocean and Arizona.
Dorothy (Doria) Deighton Jones (1824 – 1908). Born in Scotland, in 1855 (age 31) comes from San Francisco to early American Los Angeles. She marries John Jones in 1858. Doria Jones dies at her home in downtown Los Angeles with a real estate fortune of over $1 MM.
John Jones (1800 - 1876). Born in Poland, Jones moves to England and then comes to the early American settlement of Los Angeles. He establishes an extensive mercantile business (groceries, provisions, and liquor) in downtown Los Angeles and over time amasses great real estate wealth.
Doria and John Jones are not related to Santa Monica founder John P. Jones (1829 – 1912) whose 1889 Miramar home is located a block north at 1133 Ocean Ave.
The $10,000 construction cost of the Doria Jones house is similar to the amount expended on the nearby 1886 Arcadia hotel.
Directly north of the Doria Jones house is the home of Arcadia Bandini at 1247 Ocean Ave. The Bandini home is demolished in 1936 to make way for a 3-story apartment building - which is itself demolished sometime after 1976 to make way for the 1980 Wilshire Palisades building.
Henry James Woollacott (1858 – 1910). Woollacott is born in Salt Lake City (his parents are English converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS)). In 1876, Woollacott (age 18) moves to Los Angeles, and works in a wine and liquor store. In 1880, he opens his own wine and liquor wholesale business on Spring St. in downtown Los Angeles.
By 1892, he has a warehouse and wine cellar in the H. J. Woollacott Block on Spring St. Presumably, Woollacott's bee hive business logo symbolizes both his busy business and his Utah origins. His wine and liquor business is interesting given his LDS family background. Even though Woollacott is not a member of the Church, he does support his mother's ardent LDS advocacy. His Woollacott Block is the site of an early LDS Los Angeles meetinghouse.
From the early 1880s onward, Woollacott invests in real estate, acquiring property through downtown and south Los Angeles, as well as in Santa Monica. Woollacott co-founds the State Loan and Trust Bank in 1889. He is a director of the Title Guarantee and Trust Company; vice-president of Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin's Santa Anita racetrack; and invests in mining and other companies. After houses at Spring & 6th streets, and then at Hope & 10th, Woollacott's last dwelling is on Alvarado St. south of MacArthur Park.
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) is an American fraternal order and social club founded in 1868. The Santa Monica Elks Lodge No. 906 is established in April 1904 with 27 charter members. The first officers of the Lodge are W.T. Gillis, Robert F. Jones, T.H. Dudley, George F. Doty, and J. Euclid Miles. The Lodge is originally housed in leased rooms over the Santa Monica Bank (3rd & Santa Monica). Later the Lodge moves to the nearby Columbia building.
"Elks Hall Association," a corporation, is formed to take title to the Doria Jones property. Shares are sold to all Elks members (at the time there are 66 members) who can afford to purchase. In 1908 many subscribers donate their Association stock to the Lodge. By 1910 it is evident that the clubhouse is too small for the growing membership. A search is commenced for a location where a combined lodge and clubhouse can be erected under one roof.
The Elks’ $9,000 purchase price of the Doria Jones house is financed with $2,000 down and the remainder over 5 years at 5% interest.
The Santa Monica Elks’ proposed move south to near Pico brings the Elks Lodge closer to members in Ocean Park, Venice, and Culver City.
Edwin Palmer Benjamin (1853 – 1917). Born in Brooklyn NY, Benjamin is in the manufacturing business in NY state. He is the founder and mayor of the beach town of Allenhurst New Jersey. Benjamin arrives in Santa Monica with his family in 1912 and makes it his home. He buys considerable Santa Monica real estate including the abandoned Southern California Edison power plant on the beach north of the Santa Monica pier. Benjamin later moves to Hollywood.
Otto Thum (1865 – 1943). Born in Grand Rapids, MI, Otto and his brothers Hugo, William, and Ferdinand are the inventors of Tanglefoot fly paper - patented in 1887. In 1912, Otto retires to Los Angeles (Brentwood Park). He buys extensive holdings in Santa Monica on Ocean Avenue and the surrounding streets, which he develops. He also buys real estate in downtown Los Angeles. In 1941 Thum moves to a 6-acre estate in Beverly Hills.
Welk is an Elks member.