The Reno Elks Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (B.P.O.E.) was chartered as Lodge No. 597 on June 30, 1900 and was installed by officers of the Sacramento, Nevada City, and Grass Valley Lodges. The Charter list of the Reno Lodge consisted of 45 men who were said by the local newspaper to be “among the best citizens of the State of Nevada.”

From its chartering in 1900 until the completion of the Reno Elks Home in April of 1904, the Lodge met in the city’s “Investment Hall.” On April 23, 1904, the Lodge dedicated its new home at 50 North Sierra Street, where it resided for 53 years. The new building, designed by architect Fred Schadler, had the appearance of a grand private residence.

The Reno Lodge was very active during its first 60 years, and the Reno Elks Home was a social center of the community. The Elks performed many acts of charity in and around Reno. Between 1904 and 1957, the Reno Elks Home was flooded twice by the Truckee River and survived a small fire. On February 5, 1957, however, the luck of the building ran out when the Reno Elks Home was destroyed by a disastrous explosion on Sierra Street that set the building and many neighboring structures on fire. J.C. (Cliff) Kumle, Secretary and Manager of the Reno Elks at the time, was credited with averting further tragedy by promptly evacuating 74 members from the lunch and card rooms. As a result, only minor injuries were reported among the Elks, although the building had to be razed soon after.

From March of 1957 until the current Lodge at 597 Kumle Lane was completed in 1961, the Reno Elks Lodge met at the historic Mapes Hotel and the old Holiday Hotel Casino (now the Marriott Renaissance), in downtown Reno.