The Cain House, also known as the Alexander Creel Tavern and the St. Marys Lodge #41 A.F. & A. M. was built in 1850 for Alexander H. Creel in St. Marys, West Virginia

St. Marys, West Virginia

St. Marys is a city in Pleasants County, West Virginia, in the United States. The population was 2,017 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Pleasants County. St. Marys was established in 1849 by Alexander Creel, who is said to have had a vision of Mary while passing the townsite by boat...

. The Cain House provided lodging for travelers along the Ohio River

Ohio River

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...

, and functioned as a courthouse for Pleasants County

Pleasants County, West Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,514 people, 2,887 households, and 2,136 families residing in the county. The population density was 58 people per square mile . There were 3,214 housing units at an average density of 25 per square mile...

 immediately after its formation.

The Cain House was named for Zachariah Cain and his family, who operated the tavern in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The house was acquired by a fraternal order, the Maccabees

Knights of the Maccabees

Knights of the Maccabees was a fraternal organization formed in 1878 in London, Ontario, Canada. A related but separate organization, "Maccabees of the World", was also established, the two merging under the title "The Knights of the Maccabees of the World" , later shortened to the Maccabees in...

, before becoming home to a masonic lodge

Masonic Lodge

This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...

in 1957.