The Albany Masonic Temple in Albany, New York sits on the oldest property continuously owned by Masonry in the United States [1] and the building that it replaced on the same property was the first Masonic Temple to be built for that sole purpose. [2] It is a contributing property to the Downtown Albany Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
British army officers during the Seven Years' War (also known as the French and Indian Wars) is considered to have been the impetus for the creation of a local lodge in Albany. [3] The soldiers were a part of a military lodge that was organized in 1737 under the auspices of the Irish Registry, [4] they met in Albany in 1758 and when they left certain members of the local populace who had joined the Masonic order were allowed to continue to meet and recruit for the Order until they could get own charter as a lodge. [3] In 1765 they were made the Union Lodge #1 and in 1766 they were given the deed to a lot on the corner of Maiden Lane and Lodge Street by the city. The cornerstone of the first Temple on this site was laid the next year in 1767, [3] with the Temple being dedicated in 1768. [4] Prior to this meetings were held at Richard Cartwright's Southside Inn. [3] After the US Revolutionary War the lodge gave up its charter and was reorganized as Mount Vernon Lodge #3 in 1807. [4]
The Temple is the site of meetings for five different lodges. [5] Mount Vernon Number 3, the former Union Number 1, is the oldest lodge in the state of New York outside of the city of New York and meets at the Temple. [6] [7] The Guttenburg Lodge Number 737, founded in 1873 as a German language speaking lodge moved to the Temple when it was built in 1896, from their location at the WM Whitney Building, dropping German for English in 1900. [5] The Wadsworth Lodge Number 417 has met in the Temple from the founding of the current in building in 1896, having been founded in 1856 and having different meeting places throughout Downtown Albany prior to that. Masters Lodge #5 also meets at the Albany Temple. [8] Also Ancient Temple lodge #14 is one of the five lodges in the Albany masonic hall building at 67 corning place Albany NY. It is a merger of ancient city and temple lodge that occurred in the 1970s . Ancient temple lodge #14 will celebrate its 225th year likely in the fall of the year 2020
The Masonic Temple sits at the corner of Maiden Lane (now Corning Place in honor of Mayor Erastus Corning) and Lodge Street, and is built of granite in the Renaissance Revival style. The architects were Fuller & Wheeler. The interiors feature oak woodwork and rich classical ornament in plaster. The main lodge rooms are each two stories in height. The larger room (the Ten Eyck room) has stained glass windows and an 1896 2-manual, 18-rank tracker pipe organ by J. W. Steere & Sons of Springfield MA. The smaller room (the Weaver room) has an 1874 2-manual, 18-rank tracker organ by William Johnson of Westfield MA - it and the carved walnut furnishings of the room were moved from the previous temple. On the top floor of the temple is a room with a proscenium stage, used for the degrees of the Valley of Albany, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. Among the furnishings is an elaborately carved oak throne featuring Scottish Rite emblems, designed and presented by Bro. Solomon Strasser in 1898 and weighing over 400 pounds. President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt was a member while Governor of New York and a metal ramp was built leading to the banquet hall for him. This metal ramp is still in existence and is still used on a daily basis. His cousin President Teddy Roosevelt was also a member. [9]
The George Washington Masonic National Memorial is a Masonic building and memorial located in Alexandria, Virginia, outside Washington, D.C. It is dedicated to the memory of George Washington, the first president of the United States and a Mason. The tower is fashioned after the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt. The 333-foot (101 m) tall memorial sits atop Shooter's Hill at 101 Callahan Drive. Construction began in 1922, the building was dedicated in 1932, and the interior finally completed in 1970. In July 2015, it was designated a National Historic Landmark for its architecture, and as one of the largest-scale private memorials to honor Washington.
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The Historic Triune Masonic Temple is a meetinghouse of Freemasonry in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, built in 1910 in the Neo-Classical Revival style, designed by Henry C. Struchen (1871–1947). The structure was built for Triune Lodge No. 190, AF & AM. It is one of the earliest and best preserved buildings erected exclusively for the use of a single Masonic Lodge. Henry Struchen, although not an architect, was a contractor and designer. He was a member of Triune Lodge and a prominent builder in the city.
Masonic ritual is the scripted words and actions that are spoken or performed during the degree work in a Masonic lodge. Masonic symbolism is that which is used to illustrate the principles which Freemasonry espouses. Masonic ritual has appeared in a number of contexts within literature including in "The Man Who Would Be King", by Rudyard Kipling, and War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy.
Thomas Smith Webb was the author of Freemason’s Monitor or Illustrations of Masonry, a book which had a significant impact on the development of Masonic Ritual in America, and especially that of the York Rite. Webb has been called the "Founding Father of the York or American Rite" for his efforts to promote those Masonic bodies.
The Quincy Masonic Temple was a historic Masonic temple at 1170 Hancock Street, Quincy, Massachusetts. It was built in 1926 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The building was home to three "Blue" Masonic Lodges, two Appendant Bodies: York Rite, Grotto, and two Youth Groups: DeMolay and Rainbow.
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A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting.
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The Asheville Masonic Temple is a Masonic Temple located in Asheville, North Carolina. Designed by British American architect and Freemason Richard Sharp Smith, the building was opened in April 1915. It is listed in the United States National Register of Historic Places as a contributing building in the Downtown Asheville Historic District.
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