Blessing Masonic Lodge No. 411 - Blessing, TX - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

From the original nomination form:

NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION

The Blessing Masonic Lodge No. 411 is located at the corner of FM 616 and 11th Street in the town of Blessing, Texas. The building was constructed near the Tres Palacios River ca. 1875 and moved to its current location in 1907. A two-story building with a 30-feet-by-50-feet rectangular footprint, its shorter facades face west and east, and its longer facades face north and south; the main entrance is on the west elevation facing 11th Street The Blessing Lodge is a vernacular wood-framed building with a symmetrical major facade and clipped gable ends; appearing in each gable is the traditional Masonic symbol of the "Square, Compasses, and Letter G." Both floors have largely open plans, with the upper floor used for private lodge meetings, and the lower floor used as a
cafeteria and general gathering place. Still in use today, the Blessing Masonic Lodge No. 411 is nominated to the National Register at the local level of significance under Criterion A for Social History, The period of significance begins in 1907, when the building was brought to its present site, and ends in 1960, the current 50-year date for historic resources; therefore, the nominated resource is not required to meet Criteria Consideration B for a property removed from its original location.

Setting

Matagorda County is located on the Gulf of Mexico in southeast Texas, approximately 80 miles southwest of Houston. The county is 1,612 square miles in size and is comprised of flat coastal prairie; its southern and southwestern portions contain a narrow barrier island and several large bays. Bay City in the county seat, located approximately twenty miles north of the bays in the north-central part of Matagorda County. Blessing is locatedabout twenty miles southwest of Bay City at the intersection of State Highway 35 and Farm-to-Market Road 616(FM 616). The land surrounding Blessing is largely agricultural, and the town of Blessing is flat, with grid-like streets and a land area of two square miles. FM 616 serves as the main artery through town, where it is called Avenue B. The Blessing Masonic Lodge No. 411 is located at 619 Avenue B/FM 616, on the southeast corner of its intersection with 11th Street, two blocks east of the historic Blessing Hotel. The building occupies Lot 1, Block 3 of the original Blessing town site.


Exterior

The Blessing Masonic Lodge is a stout, rectangular building without any projecting ells. The building measures approximately 30 feet by 50 feet, with an interior square footage of 2,900 on two nearly identical floors. The cornice is approximately 24 feet high; from cornice to roof is an additional 6 feet The lodge building is front gabled and oriented on an east-west axis with the main entrance on the west elevation. Both gable ends are clipped.
The lodge is a vernacular building of post-and-beam construction resting on concrete piers. The building has few decorative details; it is clad in white-painted horizontal weatherboard siding with flat corner boards. The roof is composition shingle. The eaves are closed, with flat soffits and fascias. Below the eaves is a frieze that consists of a narrow decorative molding atop a flat trim piece. This same frieze detail is found along the rakeboards in both gable ends, which are clipped and contain the traditional Masonic symbol of the "Compasses, Square, and Letter G." On the front and rear elevations, the symbol is oversized and spans the entire height of the gable end; the V-shaped square intersects with the conjoined compasses, framing the capital letter G. The symbols are painted black and serve as the lodge's only architectural detail, dominating the building elevations and immediately drawing the eye
to the gables.


West Elevation

The main elevation is 30 feet wide and faces west on 11th Street It is symmetrical, with three bays in an ABA arrangement on the first floor, two windows flank the main entrance, and the second floor features three regularly spaced windows. All windows are wood double-hung sash, in a 2/2 arrangement with two vertically-oriented panes in each sash. The entrance door features two tall five-panel doors that meet without a center jamb. Above the door is a three-light fixed transom. The door is framed in flat trim work with a simple molding strip along the top above the transom. The double-hung windows are trimmed in the same flat casings and top moldings. Window sills are simple boards laid at a slight angle for water deflection. The two windows on the first floor are covered with historic single-door wood shutters. Each shutter is made of narrow vertical boards and attached to the building by strap hinges. The three second floor windows do not have shutters. Above the second floor is the broad clipped gable end with the Masonic symbol of the "Square, Compasses, and Letter G."

North and South Elevations


Facing FM 616/Avenue B, the north elevation measures approximately 50 feet in length and has a four-bay arrangement The four upper floor windows are intact and have the same arrangement and trim as those found on the main elevation. The first floor windows, however, have been altered: three of them have been enclosed with plywood but have their casings intact and the easternmost window has been completely enclosed with siding.
Historically, the south elevation was identical to the north, with four windows on each floor. Here, too, the four second-floor windows are intact matching those found on the west and north elevations. The first-floor windows on the south side have been altered: three of them have had their casings removed and are covered by nonhistoric single-door shutters that are similar to the historic shutters on the west facade. The far west first-floor window on the south elevation has been enclosed with siding.


East Elevation

The rear elevation faces east and has a two-bay arrangement historically with two windows on each floor. The upper floor is intact with two 2/2 wood double-hung sash windows that are slightly wider than the windows found on the other three elevations. On the first floor, one window has been replaced with a door, and the other window—its casings still intact—has been enclosed with plywood. The gable contains the Masonic symbol and is identical to the gable on the major facade.

Interior

The interior of the lodge is remarkably intact with much of the historic fabric remaining in place. Both floors of the building have open plans and are rather similar. At the west end of the first floor is the entrance foyer, the staircase, and a storage room/restroom; the second floor mirrors this and contains the staircase, a stair landing, and another storage room. The entrance foyer is located in the center of the first floor's west end; it has wood floors, plaster walls, and wood headboard wainscoting. The staircase, located in the southwest corner, is a return stair with a 180-degree turn at the middle landing. The stairs are wood, with solid risers and molded nosings. The balustrade is composed of square wood railings and 4x4 newel posts with pyramidal caps and partially chamfered corners. At the middle landing, the walls are wainscoted with horizontal boards topped with a wide piece of decorative molding that consists of headboard laid horizontally and trimmed. This same wide molding detail is found along the facing of the second-floor stair opening. The balustrade also continues along this upper floor landing, creating a balcony effect It is believed that all interior wood details are of pine. The majority of the building's interior space is made up of these two large open rooms—the private lodge room on the second floor and the cafeteria/community room on the first floor. The rooms measure approximately 40 feet deep by 30 feet wide, thus spanning the entire width of the building and most of its length. The lower level has wood floors, whereas the second level has linoleum tile floor covering. The lodge room and cafeteria/community room are accessed by paneled wood doors from the upper floor landing and the lower floor entrance foyer, respectively. These large rooms have plaster walls and non-historic paneled wainscoting and dropped ceilings. Interior window and door trim is flat and unornamented. The small storage rooms are located in the northwest corners of each floor, and the first floor storage room has been converted to a restroom. The upper level storage room is accessed by two doors, one from the lodge room and one from the second floor landing. This room is used by the Masons as the anteroom during degree-conferring ceremonies. At the western end of the first floor cafeteria/community room is a small non-historic storage area with walls that do not reach the ceiling; this storage area is not permanently tied into the main building fabric and thus its construction is reversible.

Furnishings


The second floor lodge room contains a large number of historic furnishings and ceremonial tools, some of which are original to the building. There are a large number of 19th-century wood chairs that have been used by the Masons since the lodge was constructed. The chairs have shaped wooden seats, curved arms, and decorative turned legs, stretchers, and spindles. The top rails and mid rails are solid wood and are very wide. Positioned on three of the lodge room's walls are three large chairs (ca. 1900) used by the Worshipful Master, the Senior Warden, and the Junior Warden during ceremonies. These chairs are solid wood with tall backs and square profiles and contain gold inlaid Masonic symbols in the upper portion of the chair backs. A podium sits in front of each tall chair and a square altar sits in the center of the room. The podia and altar match the tall chairs and are blocky in shape, each with a gold inlaid Masonic symbol and a carved architectural cornice detail just below the surface.
In the lodge room's northwest corner, in front of the ceremonial anteroom, are historic twin Masonic pillars. Donated to the Blessing Masonic Lodge No. 411 by the Indianola Lodge No. 84 when the 1886 Indianola hurricane destroyed their lodge building, the pillars—Boaz and Jachin—are said to represent King Solomon's Temple. They are heavy bronze Corinthian columns approximately eight feet high; both are gilded and have square bases, fluted shafts, Corinthian capitals, and decorative finials topped with colorful globes. One of globes features a map of the earth depicted in multiple colors, while the other globe is black with gold Masonic symbols printed around its circumference. Other historic ceremonial tools include the Working Tools—the gauge, gavel, square, level, plumb, trowel, and compass. The lodge also contains a historic ballot box said to date to the building's construction date.
The wooden box has two compartments, one of which contains tiny white wooden balls and black wooden cubes. A voting member would insert his hand into the compartment select a sphere for a positive vote and a cube for a negative vote, and drop it through a small hole into the enclosed second compartment After the vote the Master would tally the votes by opening the second compartment and counting the spheres and cubes. All wood furnishings and ceremonial objects are thought to be made of pine.


Summary

Despite the changes to some of the building's historic fenestration, the Blessing Masonic Lodge No. 411 building retains a great deal of integrity. Constructed circa 1875, the building was relocated to its present site in 1907, and today it continues to function much as it did when first built by this fraternal organization. The period of significance begins in 1907, when the building was brought to Blessing and placed on its present site, and ends in 1960, the current 50-year cut-off date for National Register properties. The Blessing Masonic Lodge No. 411 stands as a testament to the strong social bonds of this Matagorda County community and is therefore nominated to the National Register at the local level of significance under Criterion A in the area of Social History.

Statement Of Significance

Blessing Masonic Lodge No. 411 has been in continuous use as a Masonic meeting hall since its construction in the community of Deming's Bridge, Matagorda County, Texas, circa 1875; it was moved several miles to its current location in the town of Blessing in 1907. The two-story frame building possesses outstanding architectural integrity and is an excellent example of a late 19th-century vernacular civic building. It is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A in the area of Social History at the local level of significance, for its important role in the history of the local Masonic chapter, founded in 1874. The lodge's period of significance begins in 1907—when it was moved to its permanent site in Blessing—and ends in 1960; the building therefore is not required to meet Criteria Consideration B for a property removed from its original location.

Street address: 619 Avenue B Blessing, TX USA 77419 County / Borough / Parish: Matagorda Year listed: 2011 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Social History Periods of significance: 1900-1924, 1925-1949, 1950-1974 Historic function: Social / meeting hall (fraternal organization) Current function: Social / meeting hall (fraternal organization) Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 1: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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