The Grand United Order of Odd Fellows was formed in 1843, when virtually all other fraternal organizations of the era were whites-only. Following the Civil War, it provided vital support to its members and the local black community, and its work continues to the present. Former slaves founded Washington Lodge #1513 in 1872, seven years after the end of the Civil War. The lodge has owned this building since 1886, and it has one of the few remaining nineteenth-century facades in New Castle. This lodge is the only active Grand United Order of Odd Fellows lodge in Kentucky and is one of the oldest African American fraternal organizations in the state.