Chapter Halls
Rooms where our chapters meet
If your chapter hall is not depicted, please email images of it to the Grand Webmaster. Thank you.
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Located at 28 North 8th Street, Albion’s Masonic Temple is the home of Albion Chapter No. 237 whose convocations are held on the third Monday evening of each month. The image to the left comes to us through the courtesy of Companion Earl W. Knight, PHP. |
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Located at 302 East Jefferson Street, the so-called “gold room” of the temple is the home of Bloomington Chapter No. 26 whose convocations are held on the third Wednesday evening of each month. Click here to visit the chapter’s website. The image to the left comes to us through the courtesy of Companion John Dorner, Excellent High Priest of Bloomington Chapter No. 26. Click here to see the exterior of the Bloomington Masonic Temple. |
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Chicago – American Merchants’ United Express Co. Building (in memoriam) |
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The upper floors of the American Express Building at 72-74-76-78 Monroe Street [o.s.] (23 to 33 West Monroe Street [n.s.]) were a Masonic temple complex of several halls and allied rooms which were home to La Fayette Chapter No. 2 on the second and fourth Monday nights of each month, and Wiley M. Egan Chapter No. 126 on the second, fourth, and (as applicable) fifth Friday nights of each month. Designed by Henry Hobson Richardson for the American Express Company (f/k/a American Merchants’ Union Express Company), the building was constructed in 1872 in the aftermath of the Great Fire of 1871. Each of the four halls boasted lavish ornamentation, murals, detailed mouldings, and powerful pipe organs. One of the halls featured what may have been the first horse-shoe balcony in a Freemason hall in the United States. Interestingly, this building was also at the time the home of the Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago, whose leadership were enamoured with their stage facilities to such a point that they decided to make use of them to better illustrate the lessons of their degrees; the stage productions were so successful that “Chicago-style” degrees were adopted by the Scottish Rite in both the Northern Jurisdiction and Southern Jurisdiction, and valleys all over bought scenery from Brother Joseph S. Sosman’s firm, Sosman and Landis Scene Painting Studios of Chicago, to outfit their stages. Despite being equipped with a 4,000-gallon reservoir in its attic, and a basement steam pump capable of propelling water fifty feet above the roof, building was gutted by fire on 17 June 1930. Please click here to see the building’s exterior. Please click here for more details and cited references. La Fayette Chapter’s monthly convocations are now held on the fourth Tuesday evening of each month at Jefferson Park Masonic Temple. Click here to visit the chapter’s website. The first woodcut on the left, depicting the Freemasons Hall in the American Merchants' Union Express Company building, originally appeared on page 57 of The Land Owner, Vol. 5, No. 4 (April 1873), published by J. M. Wing & Co. The second woodcut on the left, depicting the preceptory of the Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago in the American Merchants' Union Express Company building, was created by a brother by the name of Calkins, and appears on page 340 of A Compendium of Freemasonry in Illinois, Vol. I, George W. Warvelle (ed.), Chicago: Lewis (1897). The third woodcut on the left, depicting the Egyptian Room in the American Merchants' Union Express Company building, originally appeared on page 56 of The Land Owner, Vol. 5, No. 4 (April 1873), published by J. M. Wing & Co. The fourth woodcut on the left, depicting the asylum of Apollo Commandery in the American Merchants' Union Express Company building, originally appeared on pages 56-57 of The Land Owner, Vol. 5, No. 4 (April 1873), published by J. M. Wing & Co.
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Chicago – Jefferson Park Masonic Temple
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Located at 5418 West Gale Street, the Jefferson Park Masonic Temple has been home to La Fayette Chapter No. 2 since December 2006. The cornerstone was laid 13 September 1912, and the temple was dedicated 4 January 1913.[1] Fellowship Chapter No. 235 met there until that chapter’s merger into Irving Park Chapter No. 195 on 17 January 1964. Below the photographs is a sketch of the chapter hall's original décor from the era of Fellowship Chapter No. 235, which hangs in the hall's reception area. La Fayette Chapter’s monthly convocations are held on the fourth Tuesday evening of each month. Click here to visit the chapter’s website. Click here to see the exterior of Jefferson Park Masonic Temple. [1] See Bruce Barnes, ed., “History and Rededication of Jefferson Masonic Temple,” The Hesperian (Chicago), vol. 70, no. 3 (July 2005): 1, 16. See also Edward E. Gaunt, A Historical Account of the First 100 Years of Providence Lodge No. 711, A.F.&A.M., (date unknown [c. 1968?]). |
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Chicago – Oriental Hall (in memoriam)
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Formerly located at 122 [o.s.] 18 North [n.s.] LaSalle Street, in Chicago, Oriental Hall was home to Washington Chapter No. 43. Click here to see the exterior of Oriental Hall. The photograph on the left, one half of a stereoscope card, depicts the interior of Oriental Hall, circa 1895. Photo courtesy of Oriental Lodge, No. 33, AF&AM. |
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Chicago – Scottish Rite Cathedral (in memoriam)
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The cathedral was a complex of individual, yet abutting and interconnected, buildings facing Walton Place, Dearborn Street, and Delaware Place, all owned by the Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago. While the most prominent of the buildings was the limestone church at 935 North Dearborn Street [n.s.] (originally 235 Dearborn Avenue [o.s.]), the more significant building in the complex, from our perspective here, however, is the large structure built, and first occupied in 1905, by the Scottish Rite [2] in the centre of the block, adjoining the south side of the church, and accessing the street via a stone-faced corridor extension constructed in the vacated alleyway at 923 North Dearborn Street [n.s.] (originally 293-5 Dearborn Avenue [o.s.]).[3] The Valley’s so-called “Small Preceptory” occupied the third floor of this building in the centre of the block, and was the meeting place of La Fayette Chapter No. 2 until the complex was turned over to the property developers on 19 December 2006.[4] The woodwork, massive Tiffany globe lamp, and seating were meticulously catalogued, carefully disassembled, and stored for reconstruction in the Valley of Chicago’s new cathedral.[5] The structure was carefully razed over the course of several weeks in September and October 2007;[6] care and precision were required in order not to damage the surrounding structures. The initial photograph to the left depicts the small preceptory in 2005,[7] and comes to us through the courtesy of the Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago. The colourful sketch depicting the west side of the Small Preceptory in 2006 was created by Chicago artist Douglas Kitto, per commission by the Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago[8] from whom prints and cards of the art are available. The two images depicting the hall’s 61-pipe W. W. Kimball Co. organ appeared in the American Guild of Organists’ The American Organist Magazine.[9] The next two images show the interior of the hall during the building’s demolition, and were captured by Companion Stanley W. Smith of La Fayette Chapter No. 2 on 13 September 2007. The final pair of images demonstrate the progress made by the demolition crews after a few days, and were captured by Companion David A. Miley, Grand Webmaster (also of La Fayette Chapter No. 2) on 18 September 2007; the demolition crew had to work carefully so as not to damage the church building nor the historic townhouses abutting the condemned structure. Please click here for more images and information about the former Scottish Rite Cathedral. [2] George W. Warvelle, LL.D., 33°, History of Scottish Rite Masonry in Chicago: From its introduction until the semi-centennial anniversary in the year 1907, Chicago: Oriental Consistory (1907): 38. [3] Alphonse Cerza, 33°, A History of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite in Illinois, 1846-1965, Bloomington, Illinois: Illinois Council of Deliberation (1966): 65-66. [4] Companion Gregory R. Klemm, MEPGHP, 33°, “Scottish Rite - Valley of Chicago change of address” email message, Chicago: Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago (12 Dec. 2006). [5] Robert A. Rylowicz, 33º, “Something Old, In Something New,” Scottish Rite News, Vol. XLXI, No. 1 (Spring 2007): 19. [6] Companion Stanley W. Smith (La Fayette Chapter No. 2), email statement to Companion David A. Miley, Grand Webmaster (La Fayette Chapter No. 2), (17 Sep. 2007); Companions Stanley W. Smith & David A. Miley (La Fayette Chapter No. 2), personal observations and photographic records (17 Sep. - 1 Nov. 2007). [7] Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago, Scottish Rite News, Vol. XLX, No. 6 (Nov.-Dec. 2006): 16. [8] Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago, “Scottish Rite Art for Sale: Own a piece of History” (advertisement) Scottish Rite News, Vol. XLXI, No. 2 (Summer 2007): 25. [9] American Guild of Organists, “Scottish Rite Cathedral, North Dearborn and West Walton Streets, Chicago, Illinois” The American Organist Magazine, date unknown: 3. |
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Located at 224 West Williams Street, Decatur’s Masonic Temple is the home of Macon Chapter No. 21 whose convocations are held on the third Thursday evening of each month. Click here to visit the Chapter’s website. The image to the left, depicting the chapter hall, outfitted for the conferral of the Most Excellent Master degree, comes to us through the courtesy of Companion Richard E. Yena, MEPGHP, Grand Secretary. Please click here for our page featuring the exterior of the Decatur Masonic Temple. |
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Located at 923 Curtiss Street, the Downers Grove Masonic Temple is the home of West Suburban Chapter No. 207 whose convocations are held on the First Monday of the month in October through June, and the third Monday in September; the chapter is dark in July and August. The first image to the left comes to us through the courtesy of Grove Lodge No. 824, A.F.&A.M. The second image to the left depicts a human keystone formed by the companions participating in the conferral of the Most Excellent Master degree and the supreme degree of Holy Royal Arch Mason on 3 December 2007, when twenty-nine new companions, from eight Chicago-area chapters, were received and exalted. Our then-Most Excellent Grand High Priest Bruce W. Rhinehart attended, along with Most Excellent Past Grand High Priests Marvin L. Selock & James W. Patton, then-Right Excellent Deputy Grand High Priest Richard E. Yena, then-Right Excellent Grand King Joseph H. Santisteban, then-Excellent Grand Captain of the Host Charles R. Horwitz, then-Excellent Grand Principal Sojourner Dale P. Cyrier, then-Excellent Grand Master of the Second Veil Patrick B. Jones, Excellent Area Coordinator Jack Chasteen, and Excellent District Deputy Grand High Priest Alan M. Hubble. Right Eminent Grand Commander H. Wayne Hoffman and Very Eminent Deputy Grand Commander Jesse L. Johns represented the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of the State of Illinois. This photograph was captured by Paul A. Scheeler, Excellent High Priest of La Fayette Chapter No. 2. Please click here for our page featuring the exterior of the Downers Grove Masonic Temple. Please click here to visit the website of West Suburban Chapter No. 207. |
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Located at 1453 Maple Avenue, Evanston Masonic Temple is home to Evanston Chapter No. 144 whose convocations are held on the first Monday evening of each month. Evanston Chapter uses Doric Hall on the temple’s ground floor, shown to the left. Please click here to see Doric Hall outfitted by Evanston Chapter No. 144 for the conferral of the Supreme Degree of the Holy Royal Arch. The 1928 temple was designed by world-famous architect, the late Companion John A. Holabird, and replaced a previous temple built downtown in 1889. Please click here for images of the exterior of Evanston Masonic Temple. |
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Hinsdale Masonic Temple (no chapter at present)
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Located at 40 South Washington Street, the Hinsdale Masonic Temple was the home of Hinsdale Chapter No. 278 until its 1966 merger into Grove Chapter No. 230 in Downers Grove. The middle and lower photographs to the left are from 1926 and 1930, respectively. All three images come to us through the courtesy of Companion Paul A. Scheeler, Past High Priest of La Fayette Chapter No. 2 in Chicago, and Past Master of Hinsdale Lodge No. 934, A.F.&A.M. Please click here for images of the exterior of Hinsdale Masonic Temple. |
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Located at 34 West Jefferson Avenue, this temple has been the home of Euclid Chapter No. 13 since 1916. The cornerstone was laid in an elaborate ceremony on 9 September of that year. These images are presented through the courtesy of Euclid Chapter No. 13. Please click here for images of the exterior of Naperville Masonic Temple. |
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Formerly located at the corner of Grove and Washington Streets, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, this temple was constructed in the late Georgian style in 1848 and razed in 1973 as part of an aborted urban renewal plan. For one month in early 1864, the temple was the temporary home of Asboth Military Chapter UD to whom a dispensation was issued in 1863 by the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the State of Illinois. The chapter was officered by civilians attached to the military work at Columbus, Kentucky, where it existed from 6 July 1863 until 20 January 1864, when it was moved to Vicksburg, and it met there from 28 January to 24 February 1864. The Grand High Priest, Hiram W. Hubbard, went with the chapter to Vicksburg, Mississippi. He said upon arrival: We found the Masonic Temple under control of the Military Authorities. The Lodge room was occupied by three Military Lodges, the Chapter room by the Military Commission, who cheerfully gave way. We found several Royal Arch Masons there from Illinois, and a number of the former officers and members of Vicksburg Chapter No. 3, who rendered every assistance in their power by furnishing robes, jewels and fixtures, and aiding in the work. The photograph to the left appears in 1850-1950 Centennial History of the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of the State of Illinois, Everett R. Turnbull, MEPGHP, |
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Western Springs Masonic Temple (no chapter at present) |
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Located at 1215 Chestnut Street, Western Springs’ Masonic Temple was the home of Three Pillars Chapter No. 280, Illinois’ last weekday daylight chapter (Jackson Chapter No. 55 in Shelbyville continues to meet on the 2nd Saturday morning). In 2010, Three Pillars Chapter merged into West Suburban Chapter No. 207, who meet in the Downers Grove Masonic Temple. The temple was constructed in 1893 as a meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends (a/k/a "Quakers"). The property was subsequently acquired by the First United Methodist Church. In 1951, the church built a new stone structure downtown, and their former home was re-consecrated as the Western Springs Masonic Temple. In addition to reconfiguring the chapel into a lodge hall, the new owners excavated a basement and constructed a fellowship hall therein. Please click here to see the building’s exterior. The photograph on the left was captured by David Miley on 15 May 2010.
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This site was last updated 12/04/11