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[[Image:RaffordHall.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Pensacola Athletic Club (later Rafford Hall)]]
[[Rafford Hall]] was built as the '''Pensacola Athletic Club''' in [[1889]] on the southwest corner of [[Baylen Street|Baylen]] and [[Belmont Street]]s as the '''Pensacola Athletic Club'''. The club was the endeavor of a group of businessmen, led by [[Louis P. Knowles]], whose financial success (and the accompanying combination of rich food and a sedentary lifestyle) had given them corpulent physiques. [[William D. Chipley]], who lived nearby and reportedly favored the idea, sold the land for the club at a reduced price. Membership to the club cost $10 for initiation and $3 per month, and by 1890 there were a hundred members.<refname="appleyard">[[John Appleyard]]. ''Historic Buildings of Pensacola'', p 19.</ref>
The club remained popular until the [[Pensacola YMCA]], with professional trainers and more advanced facilities, opened nearby on [[Palafox Street]] in [[1904]]. The Athletic Club closed, and building was sold to the [[International Independent Order of Odd Fellows]] (IOOF) on [[January 1]], [[1906]],{{date uncertain}} renovated over several months and named after benefactor [[Richard Rafford]]. The Athletic Club building replaced the IOOF's previous meeting hall on West [[Garden Street]] (also named after Rafford) built a few years earlier, which was sold for "a handsome sum" to the [[Pensacola Investment Company]].<ref>"A New Hall Is Bought By I.O.O.F." ''Pensacola Journal'', January 2, 1906.</ref> It was used for decades as a meeting hall and exercise center for the IOOF and other fraternal benevolent organizations, including the [[Knights of Pythias]], the [[Woodmen of the World]], [[Royal Neighbors of America]], the [[Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen]], the [[International Association of Machinists]] and the [[Communications Workers of America]].<ref>Ibid, p 20.<name="appleyard"/ref>
The building was acquired by the [[North Hill Preservation Society]] in September [[1974]] and restored by [[Theophalis May]]. Its construction, which inspired the [[L&N Marine Terminal Building]], was two-and-a-half stories of wood frame, plus a wraparound balcony on the second floor, over a brick basement. Its external dimensions were 85'4" by 41' with a 40 by 60 foot meeting room and gymnasium. The 230 foot running track, constructed of wood, was suspended from the second floor and encircled the gymnasium's inner perimeter.
==Gallery==
==References==
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[[Category:Fraternal buildings]] [[Category:Demolished structures]]