The Centre Theater at 208 DeKalb St. Norristown, is occupying a structure steeped in Montgomery County history. The original building opened in 1851 as the Odd Fellows lodge hall and public auditorium. From 1851 to 1873, the Odd Fellows auditorium provided the primary site for entertaining people who traveled from many corners of the region. Vaudeville acts performed in the early days.
On June 10, 1867, General George Meade, the hero of the battle of Gettysburg, made a personal appearance speaking on behalf of raising funds for a monument honoring Civil War veterans. He was joined by local heroes, General Winfield Scott Hancock and General John F. Hartranft. Political history was headquartered in Odd Fellows Hall when, during the Presidential election of 1880, native son, General Hancock, accepted the nomination of the National Democratic Party to run for the office of President of the United States. He ran his campaign from the Lodge.
In 1871 Samuel Clemens was paid $150 to come to the Odd Fellows hall to give local residents and visitors a chance to hear Mark Twain speak. Clemens changed his normal routine and apparently ‘bombed’ when speaking about Artemus Ward, another popular humorist of the time.