A 1916 Beaux-Arts Tacoma Elks Lodge — once the largest Elks chapter in the country — reopened in 2019 as a McMenamins hotel and brewpub, with staff reporting shadow figures and disembodied footsteps.
565 Broadway, Tacoma, WA 98402
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Hotel rooms start around $195/night; restaurant and bars open to non-guests.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Historic multi-story building; elevator access available for hotel guests.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1916 · Designed by École des Beaux-Arts-trained architect Édouard Frère Champney · Opened February 1916 as Tacoma Elks Lodge #174 · Held largest Elks chapter membership in the nation by mid-1960s · Added to National Register of Historic Places December 23, 1977 · Restored and reopened by McMenamins on April 24, 2019
Tacoma Elks Lodge #174 broke ground on a permanent home at 565 Broadway in 1915, hiring Édouard Frère Champney — a French-trained architect who had studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and worked on major American expositions before relocating to Seattle in 1907 — to design the structure. The building opened in February 1916 as a Beaux-Arts statement building for a fraternal organization that would grow to the largest Elks chapter in the United States by the mid-1960s.
The lodge hosted decades of civic life in the building: banquets, dances, concerts, and the social machinery of a major benevolent organization. Membership declined nationally from the 1970s onward, and the Tacoma lodge eventually ceased active operations, leaving the building vacant for years. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 23, 1977, as a contributing structure in the Old City Hall Historic District.
McMenamins, the Oregon-based hotel and brewpub chain known for restoring historic structures, purchased the Elks Temple in 2007. Restoration work began in 2017 and the building reopened on April 24, 2019 as the McMenamins Elks Temple, offering 45 hotel rooms, a restaurant, multiple bar spaces, a brewery, and event facilities including a ballroom. Original murals, medallions, and architectural details were preserved throughout the renovation.
Sources
Reports of paranormal activity at the Elks Temple predate the McMenamins renovation but have increased in public documentation since the hotel opened in 2019. The former gymnasium on the upper floors is the most commonly cited location: multiple guests and staff members have reported seeing figures in motion when no one else was present, and security footage reviews have shown empty hallways where sound was reported.
The Paranormal Roadtrippers documented their investigation of the building, noting EMF spikes in specific corridors, orb sightings during photography sessions, and spirit box communications attempted in the gymnasium. Phenomena reported include footsteps running down hallways where no one is visible, flickering lights, and a general sense of presence on the upper floors.
No specific historical incident — a death, tragedy, or notable former occupant — has been identified as the source of the reported activity. The building housed lodge meetings, dances, and social events for over six decades before falling vacant, and the attribution of the activity remains speculative. McMenamins' website documents some of the employee reports.
45 king guestrooms in the restored 1916 Beaux-Arts building, with original murals, medallions, and architectural details preserved throughout. The gymnasium floor and ballroom spaces are the focus of staff-reported paranormal activity.
Non-guests can visit the ground-floor restaurant, bars, and brewery spaces in the historic Elks Temple building.
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