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Erected in 1882, this Italianate commercial block had storefronts on its first floor to provide reliable rental revenue to the I.O.O.F., and the second floor, with its tall ceilings, was reserved for organization functions. The I.O.O.F., like the Masons on which it was patterned, had complicated rituals and secret club processes. The long covered balconies sheltering the storefronts were a common feature in 19th-century, Northern CA towns, particularly in the Gold Country. Red Bluff went all out to provide an attractive and up-to-date hall for the I.O.O.F., an amenity that could attract settlers to the city. (The Odd Fellows were the largest fraternal organization in the US, at this time; fraternal organizations had very wide popularity between 1860-1920, when club membership was an important way to gain business and social success.) This I.O.O.F. Building had delicately carved ornamentation, seen well in the cornice brackets and the alternating segmental and triangular pediments over each window, comparable to Italianate buildings in San Francisco or Sacramento.