Description of Historic Place

The Loyal Orange Lodge, also referred to as the Orange Hall, in Bonavista is located at 012-014 Sweetland’s Hill, Bonavista, near the Courthouse. The hall is a prominent, wooden, two-storey, gable and hipped roofed building with a four-storey domed roof tower. The municipal heritage designation is confined to footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

Loyal Orange Lodge #4, also known locally as the Orange Hall, is designated due to its historical, architectural and cultural values.

The Loyal Orange Lodge is historically valuable for its association with the Loyal Orange Association, a fraternal organization whose lodges began to spring up in Newfoundland during the nineteenth century. The Loyal Orange Lodge in Bonavista is the largest of its kind in Newfoundland and has been called “the most remarkable in the Orange world” by historians. It is likely that during the early twentieth century, at 475 members, it had the largest membership of any Orange Lodge in North America.

The Loyal Orange Lodge is also important for its historic association with the Fishermen’s Protective Union, a fraternal/occupational benevolent organization founded in the Trinity Bay area of Newfoundland. The Lodge was the site of the 1912 annual meeting of the FPU where Sir William Coaker presented the “Bonavista Platform.” The document served as the FPU’s political, economic, and social manifesto, demanding changes in the structure of the fishery, government and Newfoundland society.

The Loyal Orange Lodge is one of the finest examples of fraternal hall architecture in Newfoundland, and may be the largest gathering hall constructed of wood in Canada. It is a two storey building with a four storey domed-roof tower at the front, and a steep gabled roof that intersects with a hipped roof at the rear of the building.

The Loyal Orange Lodge is architecturally valuable due to its associations with Ronald Strathie, the most prominent member of the Strathie family of builders, who also designed and constructed a number of other significant buildings in the Bonavista area. The building’s interior provides an excellent example of Strathie’s style of craftsmanship.

Regarding its cultural value, the Loyal Orange Lodge has been a centre of social activity in Bonavista since its construction, used for public functions including concerts and plays. On a broader scale, the physical size of the Loyal Orange Lodge as well as its historically large membership gives testimony to Bonavista’s status as Newfoundland’s largest and most prosperous inshore fishing town during the early twentieth century. The size of the Lodge also makes it an enduring landmark in Bonavista’s cultural landscape, and fishermen of the community are said to have used it to guide their boats back into the harbour from the fishing grounds.

Source: Town of Bonavista Town Council meeting minutes of 2006/08/14

Character-Defining Elements

Exterior elements including:

-institutional scale and appearance of the building;
-building height and dimensions;
-gable and hip roof lines;
-clapboard sheathing;
-tower with domed roof;
-arched window in tower;
-window shape, style and placement;
-and the location of building within Bonavista.