Russellville Masonic Temple - Russellville, Arkansas - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

Constructed in 1926 and 1927, the Russellville Masonic Temple is a Classical Revival style building located at the 200 block of South Commerce Avenue in Russellville, Arkansas. The Russellville Lodge No. 274 began construction of the building in 1926 and it was finished in 1927. The brick masonry building rests upon a continuous concrete foundation and is topped by a flat roof. The building is fairly unornate with the exception of the Classical temple facade. The temple facade projects forward toward South Commerce A venue and features large Doric columns recessed into the building's entryway. The building's original windows were replaced with smaller single-pane stationary windows in the early 1970s. In 2004, through a grant from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, all windows on the front facade of the building (9 total) were restored to their original configuration with operable double casement wood windows.

West Elevation (Front Facade)

The building faces west toward South Commerce Avenue with the building's porch projecting forward displaying the building's Classical Revival elements. Four evenly spaced Roman Doric columns are recessed into the entryway. This type of porch is known as a portico in antis. A concrete inset located above the second story window reads "19 MASONIC TEMPLE 26" signifying when construction was begun on the temple. Non-original glass double doors centrally located between the middle two columns provide access to the building. The door is crowned with a transom and accented with a decorative brick door surround. Located directly above the doorway on the second story is a double casement window installed during the 2004 window restoration project. The porch is also fenestrated by double casement windows (restored 2004) centrally located between the end columns and middle columns. Each of these windows is paired with an identical window (restored 2004) on the second story. A second entrance is found on the south side of the projection. There are two double casement windows (restored 2004) located to the north of the projection, one on the first story and one on the second. Located south of the projection is a first story door and double casement second story window (restored 2004).

South Elevation

The first floor of the south elevation is fenestrated by a stationary window followed by a pair of stationary windows and then by a fourth window. Moving east the building is fenestrated by a single door entrance followed by two stationary windows and ending with another single door. A single story flat-roof addition that was added in the mid 1970s extends south from the original building. Access to the addition from the exterior is through a metal door on the west facing side of the addition. Two small windows with metal bars fenestrate the addition's south wall.

The second story is fenestrated by a total of eleven single-pane stationary windows. The first three windows are separated from each other by narrow sections of brick. The rest of the windows are set in pairs of two down the remainder of the elevation.

East Elevation (rear)

The east elevation is made up of a shared wall with the central fire station. The fire department had been located inside this building, but was moved in 1977 when the new station was built directly behind the temple.

North Elevation

Entrance to city offices and the municipal courtroom are located on the north elevation facing West 2nd Street. Decorative brickwork around the doors and windows adorn the elevation. A cornerstone is located at the east end of the elevation and reads "ERECTED/ BY RUSSELLVILLE CHAPTER No. 274/ F.&A.M. & RUSSELLVILLE CHAPTER/ No. 76 R.A.M. IN THE YEAR 1927/ A.L. 5927 A.I. 2457". The first entrance on the north elevation is a single door entryway with sidelights crowned by a transom and flanked by single-pane stationary windows. Moving down the elevation, there is a ribbon of two doors and two windows. The doors are separated by a pair of two-pane stationary windows. Next, the building is fenestrated by a single door followed by a ribbon of three two-pane stationary windows. Moving west, the building is fenestrated by a ribbon of four single-pane stationary windows followed by a pair of stationary windows. There was another entryway on the west end of the elevation, but it has been infilled with brick at an unknown date.