The Elks Club Building is the former clubhouse of the Manila Elks Lodge #761—Manila Lodge 761, also known as the Manila Elks Club, located in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

.Manilaelks.org: Manila Elks Club history
/ref> It was designed by William E. Parsons. The Manila Elks Lodge #761 is a branch club of the

Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE), commonly known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks, is an American fraternal order and charitable organization founded in 1868 in New York City. Originally established as a social club for m ...

(BPOE), an American

fraternal order A fraternal order is a voluntary membership group organised as an order, with an initiation ritual and traits alluding to religious, chivalric or pseudo-chivalric orders, guilds, or secret societies. Fraternal orders typically have secular p ...

History

The Manila Elks Club was founded after the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

ended in 1898, which resulted in the transfer of the

Spanish Philippines Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine ** Spanish history ** Spanish cultur ...

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

control. In 1901, a group of Americans residing in Manila petitioned the

national organization to allow the founding of an Elks Club in the Philippines, receiving authorization in 1905. Around 1910, the Manila Elks Club purchased land to build a clubhouse in the

Luneta Park Rizal Park (), also known as Luneta Park or simply Luneta, is a historic urban park located in Ermita, Manila. It is considered one of the largest urban parks in the Philippines, covering an area of . The site on where the park is situated was ...

extension, in the Ermita District of Manila. In 1910, the Manila Elks Club completed its three-story Mission Revival style building. Following the proposed Manila Plan of

Daniel Burnham Daniel Hudson Burnham (September 4, 1846 – June 1, 1912) was an American architect and urban designer. A proponent of the ''Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts'' movement, he may have been "the most successful power broker the American archi ...

, the 1910 Elks Club building was similar to the Manila Army and Navy Club co-located on the same piece of property. After the inauguration of the

Commonwealth of the Philippines The Commonwealth of the Philippines (; ) was an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territory and Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States that existed from 1935 to 1946. It was established following the ...

, ending the U.S. territorial

Insular Government of the Philippine Islands The Philippine Insular GovernmentThis form of the name appeared in the titles of US Supreme Court cases, but was otherwise rarely used. See s:Costas v. Government of the Philippine Islands/Opinion of the Court, Costas v. Government of the Phili ...

, this clubhouse was used by the United States

High Commissioner to the Philippines The high commissioner to the Philippines was the personal representative of the president of the United States to the Commonwealth of the Philippines during the period 1935–1946. The office was created by the Tydings–McDuffie Act of 1 ...

and his staff from 1935 to 1940. In 1942, during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Japanese occupation of the Philippines The Japanese occupation of the Philippines (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Pananakop ng mga Hapones sa Pilipinas''; ) occurred between 1942 and 1945, when the Empire of Japan, Japanese Empire occupied the Commonwealth of the Philippines during Wo ...

, Japanese forces took almost 100 residents from the Elks Club and the adjacent Army and Navy Club to the

Santo Tomas Internment Camp Santo Tomas Internment Camp, also known as the Manila Internment Camp, was the largest of several camps in the Philippines in which the Japanese interned enemy civilians, mostly Americans, in World War II. The campus of the University of Santo T ...

. The Elks Club building was left in ruins and was eventually destroyed during the war. In February 1949, the Elks Lodge #761 opened its newly rebuilt Manila Elks Club Building on the site of the first, on the renamed Dewey Boulevard. The two-story Mission Revival style clubhouse was designed by William E. Parsons, an American architect who had trained at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In the 1960s, because of issues of foreign ownership of the property, the Elks Lodge #761 moved out of the Manila Elks Club Building to a new facility in the Flag Village area of Makati. Later, the Manila Elks Club Building was acquired by the Philippine government. The building and its grounds, along the renamed

Roxas Boulevard Roxas Boulevard is a popular waterfront promenade in Metro Manila in the Philippines. The boulevard, which runs along the shores of Manila Bay, is well known for its sunsets and stretch of coconut trees. The divided roadway has become a tradem ...

, now houses the Museo Pambata or the

children's museum Children's museums are institutions that provide exhibits and programs to stimulate informal learning experiences for children. In contrast with traditional museums that typically have a hands-off policy regarding exhibits, children's museums fea ...

. The museum was founded by Dr.

Estefania Aldaba-Lim Estefanía "Fanny" Aldaba Lim (born Estefanía Aldaba; January 6, 1917 – March 7, 2006) was the first female secretary of any Cabinet of the Philippines, serving as Secretary of Social Services and Development from 1971 to 1977. She was also ...

in 1994.

References

External links

* * of the Manila Elks Club {{Rizal Park Elks buildings Buildings and structures in Ermita Organizations based in Metro Manila Museums in Metro Manila History of Manila Cultural Properties of the Philippines in Metro Manila Buildings and structures completed in 1905 Mission Revival architecture Children's museums National Historical Landmarks of the Philippines Child-related organizations in the Philippines 1905 establishments in the Philippines 20th-century architecture in the Philippines

History

See also

References

External links