Where crowds used to gather
I often walk by a gigantic Masonic Temple. In addition to its bulk, it’s hard to ignore because for some reason you can hear the squawking of tropical birds coming from behind doors I am guessing are 20 feet tall, and columns that top 35 feet.
It’s hard to convey how big it is, except to note that it’s a lot bigger than the large church across the street. If there was any resentment by the church of the establishment of a larger edifice with a reputation for non-Christian mysticism, there’s no evidence of that now.
Back in the day this group of Masons must have been fantastically well-off. Ground was broken for the temple during the worst of the Great Depression, when many building projects around the country had ground to a halt, but this group had the private capital to build something rivalling courthouses and other government buildings.
But now its membership is old and dwindling. All-male social and professional clubs are on the decline in general, and the mystical aura around the Masons probably doesn’t help.
As a sign of the small number of members, they evidently don’t feel the need to bother with putting names on the reserved parking signs anymore.
Like the fictional Order of the Lynx in the TV show Lodge 49, this location continues to host the occasional event, and they also provide some services to children in need, as indicated by this bronze plaque which might remind you of more famous sculptures of Lucille Ball and Cristiano Ronaldo.
One thing that’s interesting to me is that the building doesn’t appear to be overloaded with stereotypical Masonic imagery. You can see the well known triangle above, but it doesn’t have the Eye of Providence that appears on the US one dollar bill. Which turns out to be understandable.
After I looked it up, it turns out that Masons only started incorporating the symbol after it was adopted by the US government, instead of the other way around. Evidently it’s an old Christian symbol, and the Masons were latecomers to the game. The more I dig into Masonic symbolism, the more I think it’s mostly ad hoc improvisation.
There are some unusual architectural details, such as this ornamental urn. If the winged lion has any special Masonic meaning, though, I can’t find it online.
This group, like most Mason lodges, only allows women through the doors for officially sanctioned events. But about a mile away as the crow flies is an even older all-women’s club which remains open to this day. It was founded at the end of the 19th Century and served a somewhat similar purpose — stripped of the mystical and ritualistic side, it still promoted charitable and educational purposes. And also plenty of drinking and parties.
Unlike the Masons, however, this group would not have been aimed at advancing careers. The membership was drawn from a neighborhood that remains tony to this day, and it would have been aimed at housewives who were focused on preserving status rather than advancing it. They had made it, and wanted to keep things the same.
The club still operates, hosting regular Mahjong and bridge tournaments, and rents out its space for events. I went there once for my kids’ public school fundraiser. It’s nice. But even if I could join, like the Masons it’s not for me.
parts of my town center are quite old
think it used to be a monastery built late 1800s….theres older parts of town…but its mostly bits of wall and stuff like…. seems we mostly took the out with the old in with the also old aproach over here
funnily enough…the older parts of town are also remains of the monastry…as there was just a bunch of farm here when the nuns moved in and set up shop in *googles* 1259
Also known as the new part of town, it sounds like.
its when the town got officially considered the town apparently…as opposed to just a bunch of farmers happened to live around 5000 years ago….they maked these things
Obelix must have left Gaul to deliver those.
that what i figure….also…i was not expecting that reference
That is cool AF!
theres loads of them round here..
so much so that we’ve renamed a main highway for them
I’m inordinately curious about declining organizations that own massive edifices. I wonder what happens when they finally close up or the last member dies. Who owns the building? Who can sell it? Does it simply get abandoned and then seized for taxes?
Around here I’ve seen churches close up and be demolished for other development. One church had a rather large and fairly new building, but it was some sort of non-denominational organization, that I don’t think had a central governing body. Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, they all have centralized organizations that would, I assume, handle the dissolution of the church and the sale of property. But little non-denominational ones? I’m fascinated by what happens. Who gets the money from the sale?
Now I need to add Masons to the list, and probably other social clubs as well. A quick google suggests Masons don’t have a central organization. What happens when the last member dies? Was ownership handed to that person? What about Kiwanis, or Lions, or Rotary clubs? What about VFW chapters? When they get down to the last few, do they (board of directors?) all agree to sell everything and split the proceeds, or donate it to charity?
I know of one declining church that had an acquaintance as its pastor. They apparently decided to sell the church to another up-and-coming congregation and then gave the money to another church that the remaining members joined. (As an aside, I’ll just note that there’s nothing quite so difficult as finding a job after you’ve been a church minister your entire career — my acquaintance had an awful time. It’s not a sound career option.)
I have a morbid fascination for this topic.
I’ve got some more photos saved up on the subject which I’ll write up someday. The Masonic Temple wanted to demolish it but they were blocked by a historic landmark designation. There’s another Masonic Temple in town which was converted to meeting space.
A lot of Masons have connections to Shriner hospitals and I suspect some of the closing chapters donate to them. But I have no idea what the Elks and Rotaries and the rest do.
I remember walking around San Francisco and seeing the huge Masonic Temple in a super expensive neighborhood & wondering how they can keep that property!
The Elks own some amazing properties, the one in Hawaii is on one of the most expensive properties on Oahu & membership is really cheap so lots of people do it just to have access to the beach and pool they have. In WA, if you are a member you can camp on the properties for free in an RV. The ones here are much more modest. We have a really strange group here too called the Order of Odd Fellows. First time I saw one of their places I thought it was some weird club for the men to hide out from wives or maybe super villain club? Still not sure so could be right?
https://ioofwa.org/odd-fellows/odd-fellows-lodges/
Our house was built by a father and son who were Masons in 1905. This is one of the stained glass windows in the front.
That’s beautiful. I’m impressed a previous owner didn’t sell it.
Thanks! The whole reason we bought the house was because it still had so much of the original architecture. There are 5 remaining fireplaces that all have their mantels, tile and summer covers. There is a twin window with an M in it. The original family was named McClelland – it was passed down through their family until 2003. We bought it in 2013 in a short sale – thank god the people we bought it from loved old houses and didn’t sell everything in it so they could keep it. The minute I walked onto the porch and saw these windows – I had to have the house – everything else was just icing on the cake.
Mason window from the inside – makes me happy everyday.
Twin window –
My grandfather was a member of the Knights of Pythias. He lived to 100 and at was the only remaining member of his group. They mostly played cards.
I have his sabers and a bunch of little printed books that are filled with secret codes.
Someone I knew joined the Stonecutters. He got annoyed when we started singing the Simpsons Stone Cutter song.
“We do not get drunk, eat ribs and play ping pong!”
“So you just eat ribs?”
From an ascetic view, I like the craftsmanship and architecture of Masonic Temples (I was considering architecture once.) Much better than the bland towers of glass, concrete and steel aka post modern Brutalist architecture.
I always wanted to be a Shriner since I saw those guys driving the little cars in the parades! Plus silly hat! Sign me up!
Silly hats, fun little cars, AND doing life-changing things for kids around the world!😁💖💞💝
Shriners (and their Hospitals!) are the reason I can walk today–I was one of the millions of kids they’ve helped over the decades…
In my case, it was scoliosis, and I was also incredibly lucky that the local (Minneapolis) Shriners’ Hospital specializes in orthopedic diseases & disorders.
I had both an “S” curve (upper spine) and a “C” curve (lower spine, iirc the L3 vertebrae?), which was sliding “forward” toward my belly button. My family was on Medicaid because we were on welfare, and the State of Minnesota’s health care plan wouldn’t cover treatment or any fusion of my lumbar vertebrae, “Because there was no damage.”
They WOULD, however, cover a wheelchair, any treatments, and a lifetime of medical care, once the vertebrae finally moved forward enough to pinch off my spinal cord and paralyze me from the waist down!!!🙃🙃🙃
Sooooo my school nurse called her dad who was a Shriner, explained the situation (10 year old with scoliosis, who would end up paralyzed w/o surgery to stop bone movement), he and his wife met with me and talked the case over with my parents. Then they met with the other Shriners in his chapter, and they all agreed it was ridiculous to make a kid who could walk get paralyzed before she could start getting care… annnnd off I went to Shriners’ Minneapolis.
Had the then-new and slightly “experimental” surgery (they did a bone-to-bone fusion, shaving a couple pieces off one of my hips, “roughing up” the edge of the three vertebrae–one each above & below the slipping one–and slapping it all together with bone glues–no metal), when I was 12 in 1988, and i wore a back brace for a year.
They did such a great job, that when I chipped a few thoracic vertebrae in 2012, my Spinal Specialist’s nurse (who sees spinal CT’s & x-rays every day!) didn’t even notice the fusion, until I asked her how my scoliosis looked😉😄 (her reaction was “What Scoliosis?!?,” then “Oh my God, you DID have a fusion!!!” When I said where it should show🤣)
I’m lucky, and I 100% can walk today, and be the staff i am with my kiddos, because of Shriners.
They’re good people!
That is amazing. So glad you had such a great school nurse.
5:58 “When you grab a Shriner’s tassel, you’re asking for trouble!”
We have a Shriners Temple here. It’s ugly. The parking lot is used for the Sunday morning Farmers Market and the website says they rent out the building to support their charitable donations.
A winged lion is the iconography associated with St. Mark the Evangelist, does that have any bearing here maybe?