BUILDING HISTORY

The Knights of the Maccabees, a fraternal organization, was organized in 1878, and re-organized in 1881 as the "Knights of the Modern Maccabees". The Ladies of the Maccabees (L.O.T.M.) were organized in 1886 as an auxiliary of the organization. Ladies of the Maccabees were the first of these legal reserve societies to be led exclusively by/for the benefit of women in the late 1800s. In 1892, Bina Mae West, a former school teacher in Port Huron, founded the organization after witnessing a students’ family torn apart and taken out of school because their mother passed and had no form of insurance.The Ladies of the Modern Maccabees (L.O.T.M.M.) grew over the next decade, and severed ties with the men's organization in 1902. In 1906, the organization hired architect George L. Harvey to design this building for use as their headquarters. By 1912, the order had over 51,000 members.

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In 1926, the Ladies of the Maccabees merged with the men, with the combined organization known simply as the Maccabees. In 1928, the organization moved their headquarters from Port Huron to the newly built Maccabees Building in Detroit. The organization sold the Ladies of the Maccabees Building in Port Huron to the local Board of Education, and it was used to house the Port Huron Junior College until 1957. The building was then used for Board of Education administrative offices until 1981, when it was purchased by a group of attorneys for office space.

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The Building is distinguished on the State of Michigan Register of Historic Places, Site No., 1043A.

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