Former Hall

In the early 1900s Villita Street spanned from Alamo Street all the way to Presa Street. The original 100 block of Villita connected Garden and Presa Streets and was the whereabouts of a tin shop, a livery, one dwelling, and the first “Halle der Hermann Sohne.” Since then that little section of Villita Street has been usurped by new development, and the former Hermann Sons Hall is long gone. The former CPS Energy headquarters now stands in its place (built 1968) and a breezeway traces that bygone block of Villita.

The former hall at 105/107 Villita Street was constructed between 1888 and 1892. According to Hermann Sons lodge records, the first floor of the hall was occupied by the Grand Lodge, and the upper floor provided a room used by local lodges for meetings and festivities, including a waiting room and pantry. An outdoor stairway led to the lodge room entrance. Various newspaper articles mention a restaurant, and even a “saloon” in the building, as well as a “summer school for children of members and others during the term the public free schools are closed… [where] nothing but German branches will be taught and the course embraces reading, writing, grammar, history, and composition.” Members were taxed 25 cents per month to support the school, and non-members paid $1.

In 1909 the Order of Hermann Sons launched a “building society” subsidiary for the purpose of purchasing a site and erecting a suitable new home for the organization, as “it was generally agreed that the present quarters are inadequate and that, as the order has now reached a large membership and is on a sound financial basis, the building of a splendid home is now justified.”

That “splendid home” is the present day Hermann Sons Home Association building.