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Room 711

As you probably know, Paul Harris founded ROTARY in 1905.  BUT, did you know the other original members ?

Silvester Shiele; Hiram Shorey and Gus Loehr

Gus was a mining engineer, of German descent. His office was in Room 711 of the Unity Building, in Chicago. This is where the first meetings were held. The building  was built in 1892 and had 17 floors.

In honor of that first club, Rotarians have preserved the original meeting place. For many years, the Chicago Rotary club maintained the  room.  

 In 1989, when the building was scheduled to be demolished, the club carefully dismantled the office and salvaged the interior, including doors and radiators.

In 1993, the RI Board of Directors set aside a permanent home for the restored Room 711 on the 16th floor of RI World Headquarters in  Evanston, Ill

If you visit RI Headquarters, you can see the original meeting place.

Gus, by the way only attended three meetings. His business was erratic and demanded his full time attention. He died soon after that while running to catch a train.