Detroit Masonic Temple
Posted by: 
S5280ft
N 42° 20.490 W 083° 03.592
17T E 330318 N 4689748
The Largest Masonic Temple in the world is located on the north side of Temple Street, between Second and Cass Avenues. Parking is available. It houses Detroit Lodge #2, along with many others.
Waymark Code: WM1J5P
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 05/16/2007
Views: 194
From the State of Michigan Historic Preservation Office website:
Narrative Description:
The Detroit Masonic Temple was built both as a lodge hall complex for forty-seven fraternal orders and as a civic center for the City of Detroit. As a result, it is comprised of four distinct structures that are unified by a single exterior architectural treatment. Basically, the Temple is composed of the Shrine Club, a ten-story tower, the Ritual Building, a fourteen-story tower, and the Auditorium Building, a long, low, seven-story wing that connects the two towers. All are flat-roofed structures sheathed in Indiana limestone and unified by the same austere vertical English Gothic architectural treatment. The fourth part of the structure is the vast, three level, subterranean entertainment and recreational complex.
Statement of Significance:
The Detroit Masonic Temple is historically significant as the home of the oldest order of Mason's in Michigan and as a monument to the culmination of the growth of Freemasonry in Michigan. It is architecturally significant as the largest Masonic Temple in the world and as one of the most ornate and structurally complex buildings of its kind ever constructed. It is also significant for its role in the cultural and artistic life of Detroit. Freemasonry in Michigan had its start on April 27, 1764 when a few civilians and British soldiers met at the British garrison at Fort Pontchartrain in Detroit and organized Zion Lodge No. 1. It operated under a charter granted by the Grand Lodge of England until after the American War of Independence when it was re-charted through the Grand Lodge of Quebec. In 1807 it was re-chartered under the Grand Lodge of New York. By 1826 there were enough Masonic lodges in operation in Michigan that the Grand Lodge of Michigan was formed at Detroit. The Michigan Lodge used rented quarters until 1851 when it constructed the state's first Masonic Temple. A larger temple was constructed in 1896 but quickly outgrown with the phenomenal growth of Detroit in the twentieth century. The present Gothic-style building, designed by architect George D. Mason, was completed in 1926. The interior features ornate molding, stenciling, and paneling, much of which was completed by Anthony DiLorenzo Studios of New York. The building contains some of the largest auditorium and meeting spaces in Detroit and hosts many civic, business, and cultural events.
From the Michigan Historical Marker (missing)
ZION LODGE NO. 1, F. & A. M.
On April 27, 1764, the Provincial Grand Master of the Free and Accepted Masons in New York issued a charter to a Masonic lodge in Detroit. The Royal American Regiment's Lieutenant John Christie was the master of the lodge, Michigan's first. The Detroit Masons first adopted the name Zion Lodge in 1794 when they began operating under a new charter from Quebec. With American occupation of Michigan, the lodge again came under the Grand Lodge of New York, which issued a new charter in 1806 to "Zion Lodge No. 1" of Detroit. This name was retained by the Grand Lodge of Michigan when it was formed in 1826. Zion Lodge suspended operations during the War of 1812 and during the anti-masonic agitation of 1829-1845, but each time its functions were resumed.
(
visit link)