The first image was captured by Flickr contributor, Seth Gaines. Click here to see Mr. Gaines' extraordinary portfolio.

The second image is from a postcard, courtesy of the Illinois Lodge of Research’s Louis L. Williams Masonic Library.

The first image was captured by Flickr contributor, Courtney Chesley. Click here to see Ms. Chesley's portfolio.

The second image is from a postcard, courtesy of the Illinois Lodge of Research’s Louis L. Williams Masonic Library.

The first image comes courtesy of the Scottish Rite Valley of Bloomington. The second image is from a postcard, courtesy of the Illinois Lodge of Research’s Louis L. Williams Masonic Library. The third and fourth photographs were captured by Companion David Miley, the Grand Webmaster, on 21 September 2008.

Please click here for images of Bloomington Chapter’s hall (known as the “Gold Room”) in the Bloomington Scottish Rite Cathedral.

Henry Godeke Chapter’s convocations are held on the fourth Monday evening of each month. Click here to visit the chapter’s website.

The imagery to the left come to us through the courtesy of the Bridgeport York Rite bodies.

The image is from a postcard, courtesy of the Illinois Lodge of Research’s Louis L. Williams Masonic Library.

The Neil Street site is now a parking lot.

The first image is from a postcard, courtesy of the Illinois Lodge of Research’s Louis L. Williams Masonic Library.

The second photograph depicts the building's cornerstone, now displayed in front of Champaign's current Masonic Temple, and was captured by Companion David Miley, the Grand Webmaster. on 14 September 2008.

These photographs were captured by Companion David Miley, the Grand Webmaster, on 14 September 2008.

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.

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 for more details and cited references.

Please click here to see the interior.

The temple was home to Corinthian Chapter No. 2, Wiley M. Eagan Chapter No. 126, Lincoln Park Chapter No. 177, and Saint Cecilia Chapter No. 220. See Evert E. Lawson (ed.), 1968-1969 Masonic Directory: A Listing of Masonic Lodges and Appendant Bodies in Illinois, Glenwood, Illinois: Temple Publishers (1968).

Wiley M. Eagan Chapter merged into Corinthian Chapter who reassumed their former name, La Fayette Chapter No. 2. They currently meet on the fourth Tuesday evening of each month at Jefferson Park Masonic Temple. Click here to visit the chapter’s website

St. Cecilia Chapter merged into Lincoln Park Chapter, who now meet at Mont Clare Masonic Temple.

Please click here to see the interior.

The first photograph on the left shows the Central Masonic Temple dressed for the 1910 Triennial Conclave of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the U.S.A.

To the left is a woodcut depicting a westward view along the Chicago River, South Water Street (now Wacker Drive) and Kinzie Street, from Rand McNally's 1893 Bird's-Eye Views and Guide to Chicago. Corinthian Hall is in the upper right corner, at the northwest corner of the intersection of Kinzie and Dearborn Streets. Dearborn is identified by the second bridge from the top (west).

Please click here to see interior photographs of the interior of Corinthian Hall.

The webmaster is attempting to secure a photograph or more detailed drawing of Corinthian Hall's exterior. If you have images of this long lost building, please email them to the webmaster. Thank you.

Lincoln Park Chapter No. 177 merged into Irving Park Chapter in 1978. The chapter, having readopted the Lincoln Park name and number in 2009, now meet at Mont Clare Masonic Temple.

The former Irving Park Masonic Temple is now a church.

The photograph on the left was captured by Companion David A. Miley, Grand Webmaster, on 17 April 2010.

The mid-construction photograph and the blueprints, both shown to the left, come to us through the courtesy of Hesperia Lodge No. 411, A.F.&A.M.

La Fayette Chapter’s monthly convocations are held on the fourth Tuesday evening of each month. Click here to visit the chapter’s website.

Please click here for images of La Fayette Chapter’s hall in 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?]).

Logan Square Chapter merged into Lincoln Park Chapter No. 177 who now meet at Mont Clare Masonic Temple.

The former Logan Square Masonic Temple is now known as Armitage Baptist Church.

The photograph on the left was captured by Companion David A. Miley, Grand Webmaster, on 1 February 2010.

The twenty-two storey building, designed by John Wellborn Root of Burnham and Root, was constructed in 1892. Below the Masonic floors were offices. The lower nine floors featured shops surrounding an open court. The lodge halls served also as theatres, but the building's elevators, barely sufficient for daily commercial activity, were woefully inadequate for the theatre crowds. The building, with its lacklustre utility services and elevators, struggled to retain commercial tenants. The building's death knell was the construction of the State Street subway (now part of the Red Line), which would have necessitated prohibitively expensive upgrades to the structure's foundation. Consequently, the temple was razed in 1939.

Please click here to see Washington Chapter's insurance policy for their furnishings at this temple, dated 7 January 1903.

The tinted postcard on the left depicts the exterior of the Chicago Masonic Temple at or about the time of its opening, judging by the horses and cable-cars.

The photograph on the left depicts the exteriors of the Chicago Masonic Temple and its neighbour to the south, Marshall Field & Company, dressed for the 1910 Triennial Conclave of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar of the U.S.A. Click here to see ninety more photographs of Chicago hosting the 1910 Triennial Conclave.

Formerly located at 122 [o.s.] 18 North [n.s.] LaSalle Street, in Chicago, Oriental Hall was home to Washington Chapter No. 43.

Please click here to see the interior of Oriental Hall.

Please click here to read Washington Chapter's 5 March 1878 letter to Oriental Lodge No. 33, inquiring about becoming a tenant.

The woodcut on the left depicts the exterior of Oriental Hall, circa 1873, as it appeared in The Land Owner, Vol. 4, No. 10, Chicago: J. M. Wing (Oct. 1872), at 173. Click the thumbnail to see a high-resolution image.

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[5] 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.] (293-5 Dearborn Avenue [o.s.]).[6] 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 from the 1960s until the complex was turned over to the property developers on 19 December 2006.[7] The structure was carefully razed over the course of several weeks in September and October 2007;[8] care and precision were required in order not to damage the surrounding structures.

Despite it having been constructed by the Scottish Rite, rather than a Royal Arch chapter or other York Rite entity, notice the keystone design of the apex of the west wall in the second photograph on the left. In later years, large ductwork obscured the view of the keystone shape.

Both buildings face Washington Square Park, popularly known in the early 20th Century as “Bughouse Square.” [9]

The colourised postcard to the left depicts both Medinah Shriners’ church building and the Scottish Rite’s structure (albeit with the entrance to the latter erroneously coloured as brick, rather than as its actual grey stone), sometime between 1905 and 1911, C.E. The monochromatic photograph of the Scottish Rite structure and the 1891 George B. Carpenter mansion comes to us by the courtesy of the Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago. The aerial or orbital photographs of the complex are copyright by MapQuest and are used herein pursuant to the fair use doctrine. The areal photograph of the demolition were captured by Companion Stanley W. Smith of La Fayette Chapter No. 2 on 13 September 2007. The ground-level photographs were captured by Companion David A. Miley, Grand Webmaster, also of La Fayette Chapter No. 2 on 15 September and 1 November 2007.

Please click here for our page about La Fayette Chapter’s hall in the former Scottish Rite Cathedral.

Please click here for more images and information about the former Scottish Rite Cathedral.

[2] Sam Loiacono & Harry Strouse, eds., Scottish Rite Cathedral Tour, Valley of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois: Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago (2003): 1.

pages/178.html

When dedicated in 1926, the temple was the home of La Fayette Chapter No. 2, Wiley M. Egan Chapter No. 126, Hyde Park Chapter No. 240, and Temple Chapter No. 252. No Masonic bodies meet there at present.

The first photograph on the left is a post card from the Curt Teich Postcard Archives of the Lake County Discovery Museum.

The second photograph was captured by the Chicago Architectural Photographing Company and is found among the University of Illinois’ Northwest Architectural Archives (American Terra Cotta Company Photographs). The tall, dark building, seen half a block to the east, is the Daniel Burnham-designed Masonic Temple Building (1892-1939).

The third image is the cover of the temple’s leather-bound dedication book, and is a part of the archives of La Fayette Chapter No. 2.

The final image comes to us from Planet99.com.

A formal cornerstone laying occurred on 2 November 1907, yet the northeast corner is bare of markings. Whether there is a ceremonial cornerstone elsewhere on the structure is currently under investigation.

The photographs were captured by Companion David Miley, the Grand Webmaster. The image of the commemorative fob images comes courtesy of Companion Paul A. Scheeler, Past High Priest of La Fayette Chapter No. 2. Click on the fob image to see an enlarged view of the reverse side shown; click here to see an enlarged view of the obverse side.

Please click here for images of Macon Chapter’s hall in the Decatur Temple.

Please click here for images of the alternate hall in Decatur Temple, configured for the supreme degree of Holy Royal Arch Mason.

The images of the token commemorating the 24 March 1928 cornerstone laying ceremony come to us through the courtesy of eBay seller LakeTownTreasures.

The imagery to the left come to us through the courtesy of Grove Lodge No. 824, A.F.&A.M.

Please click here for our page featuring West Suburban Chapter’s hall in the Downers Grove Masonic Temple.

Please click here to visit the chapter’s website.

The 1928 temple was designed by world-famous architect, the late Companion John A. Holabird, and replaced a previous temple built downtown in 1889.

Note that the temple's street address, 1453, is equal to the number of columns supporting the First Temple (i.e., King Solomon's Temple) in Jerusalem.

The second photograph on the left is a screen capture from Toth and Parsons Productions’ The Freemasons: The Mystery, Myth and Truth (1995, 2005), which was filmed almost entirely in and around Evanston Masonic Temple, Medinah Shriners’ former ‘mosque’ in Chicago, and the former Scottish Rite Cathedral in Chicago.

The third photograph was captured by Companion David Miley, the Grand Webmaster.

This photograph was captured by Companion David Miley, the Grand Webmaster.

Freeport Chapter’s monthly convocations are held on the first Tuesday evening of each month, less July and August when the chapter is dark.

The upper image is from a postcard, courtesy of the Illinois Lodge of Research’s Louis L. Williams Masonic Library. The lower image is from the website of the Valley of Freeport.

Click here to visit the chapter's website.

The first image, looking roughly south-west shows both the building's Main Street façade and 2nd Street side. The second photo, facing essentially west, reveals the 2nd Street entrance for the stairs up to the chapter hall on the 2nd storey. An illuminated sign on the building's north-east corner, announces which body is meeting. At the bottom is the plaque on the north edge of the east wall, proclaiming the lodge and chapter.

These four photographs were captured by Dave Miley, Grand Webmaster, on 27 June 2010 during the town's annual Swedish Days festivities.

Click on any of the images for a high-resolution version.

Oracle Chapter’s monthly convocations are held on the second Thursday evening of each month. Click here to visit the chapter’s website.

The images were captured by Companion, Richard E. Yena, Most Excellent Past Grand High Priest, Right Excellent Grand Secretary (Right Excellent Deputy Grand High Priest at the time), on 12 January 2008.

Granite City Chapter’s monthly convocations are held on the first Thursday evening of each month, less July and August when the chapter is dark.

The image was captured by Companion, Richard E. Yena, Most Excellent Past Grand High Priest, Right Excellent Grand Secretary (Most Excellent Deputy Grand High Priest at the time).

This photograph was captured on 8 May 2010 by Companion David A. Miley, the Grand Webmaster.

The colourised postcard images to the left depict the temple circa 1909 and, like the modern photograph of the front door, 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. The monochromatic photograph depicts the temple circa 1920 and comes to us by the courtesy of Hinsdale Lodge No. 934, A.F.&A.M.

Please click here for our page featuring Hinsdale Chapter’s former hall.

Please click here to read more about the history of Hinsdale Masonic Temple.

This image is from a postcard, courtesy of the Illinois Lodge of Research’s Louis L. Williams Masonic Library.

This photograph comes to us through the courtesy of Companion Franklin E. Cline, Most Excellent Past Grand High Priest.

This image is from a postcard, courtesy of the Illinois Lodge of Research’s Louis L. Williams Masonic Library.

The cornerstone was laid in an elaborate ceremony on 9 September 1916. The following is the newspaper account from the 13 September 1916 issue of the former Naperville Clarion:

Corner Stone Laid For Masonic Temple

The corner stone of the new Masonic Temple in this city was laid on Saturday afternoon with impressive Masonic ceremonies, before a large assemblage of residents and Masons of the city and from surrounding counties. Bro. Ralph H. Wheeler, Grand Master of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Illinois, officiated, assisted by an occasional Grand Lodge composed as follows: Brothers H. H. Benjamin, Deputy Grand Master; C. W. Reed, Senior Grand Warden; C. A. Ashley, Junior Grand Warden; Claude V. Leffler, Grand Treasurer; Isaac Cutter, Grand Secretary; A. E. Randell, Grand Orator; Harry Woodward, Grand Chaplain; C. V. Wellner, Senior Grand Deacon; Edward Enck, Junior Grand Deacon; Wm. H. Bird, Grand Marshall; C. F. Wm. Schultz, Grand Pursuiviant; John Eisele, Senior Grand Steward; Earnest Rich, Junior Grand Steward; Ralph Steele Shepardson, Grand Architect; C. S. Gurney, Grand Tiler; John A. Bell, Master of Oldest Lodge.

The Most Worshipful Grand Master was escorted from the depot to the Masonic Hall by Aurora Commandery No. 22, Knights Templar, under Commander F. Merritt Pepper and Captain-General C. E. Cooley, which was headed by the Lounge Factory Band and the G. A. R. Drum Corps of Aurora.

The Grand Lodge was then convened at the Masonic Hall where together with a delegation of Master Masons, the procession was again formed, the line of march being east on Jefferson Ave. to Washington St., south to Water St., west to Main St. to Jefferson Ave., and east to the Temple site. The Grand Lodge then counter-marched through the line of procession and assumed their places on a tastefully decorated platform, erected for the occasion.

Worshipful Master Sankey S. Good, after a few introductory remarks, then requested the Most Worshipful Grand Master and the Grand Lodge, on behalf of Euclid Lodge No. 65, to officiate at the ceremonies of the laying of the corner stone, which was performed with Masonic honors. The occasion was most impressive and will never be forgotten by those who were priveleged to witness it.

Appropriate vocal selections were rendered in the course of the ceremonies by the Oriental Quartet of Chicago and a feature most appreciated was an oration delivered by Rev. A. E. Randell, the gist of which was the relation and benefits of Masonry to society in general and the fact that the importance and desirability of any edifice to a community, no matter how beautiful architecturally, rested absolutely on the nature of the institution which it houses.

The corner stone was the gift of Bro. Arthur R. Beidelman, a member of Euclid Lodge No. 65; it is exceptionally beautiful in design and will be a lasting and worthy monument to Masonry and to the beneficence of Bro. Beidelman.

Please visit the history section of Euclid Chapter’s website to see the buildings that formerly served as their temple.

These images are presented through the courtesy of Euclid Chapter No. 13.

The wording on the front of the building, between the second and third floors, reads “Crockery Hardware Dry Goods Groceries”. From the Naperville Historic Walking Tour, courtesy of the Naper Settlement Museum:

Henry Peaslee, 1850. This is one of Naperville’s oldest commercial buildings, similar to [214 North Ellsworth Street]. The building housed a grocery and dry goods store, with dances and social gatherings held in a hall on the third floor.

Please visit the history section of Euclid Chapter’s website to see the other buildings that formerly served as their temple.

The picture to the left shows the first lodge hall building as it looks as of April 2007.

These images are presented through the courtesy of Euclid Chapter No. 13.

This image comes to us through the courtesy of the Bridgeport York Rite bodies.

Please click here for an image of Henry Godeke Chapter’s former hall in Olney Masonic Temple, configured for the conferral of the supreme degree of Holy Royal Arch Mason.

The ground floor was originally rented out to various organisations and businesses. For the building's first decade, that floor was the Palatine Athletic Club, at which time the temple held suburban Cook County's first two-lane bowling alley. The temple had no non-Masonic tenants again until 1951 when the Palatine's Public Library moved in briefly between permanent homes, to be replaced by the Palatine Leader newspaper and, thereafter, a Christian Science reading room. See Hollander, supra.

In approximately 1961, the lodge rehabilitated the temple, replacing the utilities and updating the exterior brickwork with blue-grey paint and adding shutters to the windows. See unidentified 1961 article, supra.

The city of Palatine condemned the temple in 2009 in order to reconfigure and improve the traffic intersection at Plum Grove and Palatine Roads. A multi-step land-swap was negotiated between the city and the lodge. The city traded a its soon-to-be vacated fire station at 455 West Dundee Road and approximately US$592,000 for the 1904 temple property. As the city needed the old temple nearly two years before the replacement fire station would be completed, the deal also included temporary use of a previously condemned and vacant former Harris Bank data processing annex less than two blocks west of the old temple. See "New Palatine Fire Station Coming to Quentin Road", Brian Slupski, Palatine Patch, 27 October 2010.

The first two photographs were captured by Michael Zale (Flickr alias Neopsychedelia) in March 2008. Click here to see Mr. Zale's Flickr portfolio.

The last two photographs depict Eugene Fifielski's beautifully detailed scale model of the temple, and were captured by Comp. David Miley on 6 November 2010. The model is displayed in the current Palatine Masonic Temple and makes periodic appearances in local parades and the public library.

In 2009, the City of Palatine condemned the 1904 temple in order to reconfigure and improve the traffic intersection at Plum Grove and Palatine Roads. A multi-step land-swap was negotiated between the city and Palatine Lodge No. 314. The city traded a its soon-to-be vacated fire station at 455 West Dundee Road and approximately US$592,000 for the 1904 temple property. As the city needed the old temple nearly two years before the replacement fire station would be completed, the deal also included temporary use of the ground floor of this previously condemned and vacant former Harris Bank data processing annex located less than two blocks west of the old temple. See "New Palatine Fire Station Coming to Quentin Road", Brian Slupski, Palatine Patch, 27 October 2010. Located adjacent to both the city's central train station and the future site of the new city hall, this building is slated to be razed to make room for a multi-deck parking garage.

Rather than simply using make-shift arrangements during their brief tenure in the bank building, Palatine's Masonic bodies outfitted the space with a proper lodge-chapter-council hall & asylum, mounted their framed material on the walls, built daises, installed ceiling lights for the altar and Easter Star positions, inter alia.

These photographs were captured by Comp. David Miley on 6 November 2010.

The chapters moved into this temple on 15 December 2011. See the history of Palatine's temples above.

These photographs are here through the courtesy of Palatine Lodge No. 314.

Notice the globe lights bearing the symbols to indicate the various Masonic organisations in the temple, including the triple-tau, equilateral triangle, and circle, representing the supreme degree of Holy Royal Arch Mason, and thus Ford Chapter No. 113.

This photograph was captured by Companion David Miley, the Grand Webmaster.

Notice the lights bearing the symbols to indicate the various Masonic organisations in the temple, including the triple-tau, equilateral triangle, and circle, representing the supreme degree of Holy Royal Arch Mason, and thus Sterling Chapter No. 57.

These photographs were captured by Wikimedia user IvoShandor. Click here to see more.

This photograph was captured by J. A. Brown, and comes to us through the courtesy of Image Community.

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 simple yet substantial building, an example of late Georgian architecture, had cast-iron lintels, brick pilasters and cornices. The brick entablature consisted of a wide capitular architrave and frieze, and a cornice with dentils ran across the east and south sides.

The second photograph shows a close-up of the large stone inset on the west side, between the second and third floors. It bears a Square and Compasses, within a capitular archway, flanked by a level and plumb.

The third photograph shows the south entrance at 717 Grove Street, which had been converted into a window. It features a capitular architrave, the keystone of which is inscribed with the Square and Compasses.

The fourth photograph shows the east and south sides. The white × in the background, less than two blocks west, marks the Illinois Central Railroad tracks.

These photographs were produced in 1972, by the Library of Congress' Historic American Buildings Survey, a year before the building's demolition. Click here to see the complete file on the temple.

Click here to see the interior of the lodge/chapter hall.

The temple has two entrances, being accessible from both Genesee Street and from the municipal parking lot abutting the temple's south face.

These photographs were captured by Companion David Miley, the Grand Webmaster, on 8 May 2010.

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 / chapter hall, the brethren excavated a basement and constructed a fellowship hall therein.

Click here to see the chapter hall.

The photograph is presented through the courtesy of Three Pillars Chapter No. 280.

This photograph was captured by Companion David Miley, the Grand Webmaster.

Designed by architect Arthur Howell Knox (1880-1973), the cornerstone was laid in 1925, and the exterior is composed chiefly of yellow brick which compliments the surrounding community of largely Victorian and prairie-influenced craftsman style homes. The west wall features a trio of modest, Masonic themed stained glass windows.

These photographs were captured by Companion David Miley, the Grand Webmaster, on 13 November 2010.