Knights of Pythias Hall

Knights of Pythias Hall (221 N Main St) – Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, and Count Basie’s Orchestra all performed inside this building, once dubbed the House of Fun. Completed in 1926, it was owned by a Black chapter of the Knights of Pythias fraternal organization. After World War II, the building housed the African American Floyd-Davidson Post No. 126 of the American Legion. Marked by its rusticated concrete block exterior and a stepped parapet, it was moved a short distance south in 2014 to accommodate the new VMI Aquatic Center. Three historical panels outside the building detail its evolving social use over the course of a century.