Friends of Suomi Hall

The Finnish Brotherhood was organized in 1886 and incorporated in 1891. The members of the Finnish Brotherhood met periodically over the years in the Finnish Temperance Society building, but usually in downtown Astoria at the Knights of Pythias Hall, Foard & Stokes Hall, Logan's Hall, Astor Hall, Odd Fellow's Hall. On April 10, 1929, the Finnish Brotherhood began the process of purchasing the hall from the Temperance Society for $5,000. Almost five years later, on February 21, 1934, the Finnish Brotherhood paid off the mortgage of $4500.00. After 48 years of meeting in various locations, Astoria Suomi Hall became their permanent home. In 1947, the brotherhood added a neon sign to the top of the building that read "1893 SUOMI HALL 1947". Over the years, the first floor has housed a variety of businesses, including the Astoria Health Club, the Finnish Meat Market, the Finnish Mercantile Store, Puusti A. & Company Hardware Store, Karen's Café, the Columbia Club Tavern, Palo's Department Store, and now M&N Workwear Clothing.

The Lodge has undergone many changes over the years. Astoria Lodge #2 was one of many Finnish Lodges that stretched from Alaska, British Columbia, Canada, Washington, Oregon, California, Montana and Wyoming. Once a total of 34 lodges. They combined their resources and formed the Finnish Grand Lodge in 1912. Headquartered in Astoria. They published the Veljeysviesti magazine for lodge members starting in the 1920's it was a monthly publication for many years, then bi-monthly. It kept all Finnish Lodges well informed of what was happening with their Finnish brothers and sisters elsewhere. The Grand Lodge was dissolved in December 2018. At that time, only 5 of the 34 Lodges remained. The last remaining California Lodge is Berkeley Lodge #21, which seceded and became independent in 2017. The remaining Washington state lodges are now independent in Aberdeen #9, Winlock #19, Kelso-Longview #32, Hockinson #24 and Seattle Lodge #11, which disbanded in 2019 but still meets socially. Portland Lodge #23 terminated in December 2014. Astoria Lodge is now the only remaining lodge in the state of Oregon.

We have a strong membership of 250 in our lodge. Recognizing that we needed to adapt to changing times. The Astoria Lodge has gone through a restructuring to become a non-profit 501(c)(3) like what the Berkeley Lodge has done in California. This will give us more opportunities to grow and pursue the preservation of our Finnish culture and lodge structure, making us eligible for grants and matching funds. We are accepting tax-deductible donations that will go toward renovating the lodge, promoting Finnish heritage in the area, and continuing to organize and digitize our archives.

We became a nonprofit organization when our former Lodge, United Finnish Kaleva Brothers & Sisters, Astoria Lodge #2, merged with the newly formed nonprofit organization, The Friends of Suomi Hall, on March 30, 2021.