Grand Army of the Republic

The Women's Christian Temperance Union building was also the meeting hall of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a fraternal charitable organization. Founded in Decatur, Illinois on April 6, 1866 by Benjamin F. Stephenson, membership was limited to honorably discharged veterans of the Union Army, Navy, Marine Corps or the Revenue Cutter Service who had served between April 12, 1861 and April 9, 1865. By 1890, the GAR numbered 409,489 veterans of the "War of the Rebelion." The final Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic was held in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1949 and the last member, Albert Woolson died in 1956 at the age of 109 years.

The John F. Reynolds Post No. 44 was organized on February 22, 1884 in Fargo with 64 charter members. With statehood in 1889, the Posts were renumbered with the Reynold Post becoming Number 5. The Post had a membership of 287 at one time but declined until its demise in the 1930s. Its last member was Col. John W. Carroll who died March 3, 1942.