Masonic Halls, Then and Now

What a wonder it was those many years ago when BBSs sprung up all over and you could go on your computer and exchange thoughts and greetings with Masons you had never met.

Today, there’s seemingly no end of places to go on the internet for people interested in Masonic things. Masons have set up forums and blogs, web pages and podcasts, and social media sites as well.

There are non-Masonic sites as well, especially those interested in historical and historical preservation. More and more archives and libraries are digitising, meaning a wealth of material that was once in filing cabinets or sitting benignly on shelves is getting more exposure.

I enjoy looking at old Masonic photos, especially those of halls and meetings rooms. Your local or state/provincial library or archives may have them on line, but one place that does is the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. I’ve been checking out some pictures at random and thought I would post them.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of background about the buildings. I’m sure people can fill me in.



Here is the interior of a Lodge room in Boise, Idaho. It looks like a pretty thin room and likely had just been vacuumed as the altar’s been moved from the centre of the floor. There are some symbols contained in the American Third Degree mounted on the walls, such as the scythe. Freemasonry in Boise dates to 1863.



This is a Lodge room in Camden, Alabama. It appears this Hall was built in 1848. Union troops camped in the Lodge in 1865.



Another thin Lodge room was in Ludlow, Kentucky. Evidently, a member of the Lodge has passed away; the Stewards’ rods (to the right) are draped in black. One wonders if this was built for Masonic purposes, considering there is a door in the southeast, although I’ve been to an old Lodge building where the washroom door is placed there.



Lodge buildings come in all sizes to suit the community (and the income of its members). The Chicago Masonic Temple was famous in its day, built in 1892. It has been demolished for many years. It was 22 storeys and was the scene of several suicides, the first apparently being on January 15, 1898 by an unemployed bookkeeper.



This fine building was in Indianapolis, opened in 1876. Alas, fire destroyed part of it in 1906 and a new, larger building was dedicated almost exactly three years later and is still in use.



Washington, D.C. had a number of Masonic buildings. This one was erected on New York Avenue at a cost of $500,000. President (Bro.) Teddy Roosevelt laid the cornerstone in 1907. It is now the home of the National Museum of Women in the Arts.



Now, for some contrast, let’s go back to the pioneer days in the U.S. West. This hall was in Virginia City, Nevada. You can see the date on the building is 1875, ten years after the city hosted the organisation of the Grand Lodge of Nevada. You can read a history of Freemasonry in Virginia City here.



Masonry came to Shasta, California before the ‘49ers did. A charter for Western Star No. 98 was granted in 1848 by the Grand Lodge of Missouri. This historic Lodge is still meeting and you can read more here.



Gold in 1849 brought dreams of instant wealth and settlers to California, Masons among them. And when the gold ran out, the settlers moved on, Masons among them. They left the remnants of their (temporary) Masonic homes. This building was in Drytown, California. The town may virtually be gone, but the Lodge survived and moved to Plymouth, four miles to the north. By the way, elsewhere in Amador County, you can find “Masonic Caves.”



“The Farthest North Masonic Lodge in the USA” meets in this Ionic-columned building. It is in Fairbanks, Alaska and was first used for Masonic purposes in 1906. You can see the directory of organisations which met there, including DeMolay and Rainbow Girls. Read a bit more here.



Finally, here is the home of Whidby Island No. 15 in Coupeville, Washington. The Hall was built in 1874 and the Lodge itself dates to 1869. I’m sure it will shock some Freemasons to learn the Lodge posts the minutes of its meetings on the internet for all to read. The Lodge’s web site is here, where you can read about the history of the Hall.

It’s unclear when the picture was taken—I’m guessing around 1920—but you can compare it to how the building looks today.



If you’re interested in checking out the photos the Library of Congress has about Masonic topics, you can click here.