Gallatin Lodge No. 6, A.F. & A.M. - Bozeman, MT - Victorian Style Architecture on Waymarking.com

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Gallatin Lodge No. 6, A.F. & A.M. - Bozeman, MT

in Victorian Style Architecture

Posted by:  T0SHEA

12T E 497322 N 5058431

Built in 1883 by the Masons, this building continues in use by them, meeting on the second floor Wednesdays at 7:30 PM. Since it was built, the Masons have rented out the lower floor as a source of income, a common practice among fraternal lodges.

Chartered October 4th, 1866, right from the outset the lodge had internal problems, with the Confederate and the Union sympathizers at odds to the extent that Bozeman Lodge No. 18 was formed in 1872 for the benefit of the Union sympathizers. As a result, both lodges initially struggled from having small membership numbers. Just down the street from Gallatin Lodge No. 6, Bozeman Lodge No. 18 also continues in operation.

This Masonic Temple is very much Italianate in design, the overhanging cornice being its most prominent feature. Of pressed metal, the cornice extends along the entirety of both street sides of the building. It has ornate ogee brackets at the corners, ogee shaped modillions and very fine dentils below. Though the front of the building is fairly unadorned on the upper floor and covered by a canopy on the lower floor, the side exhibits very strong terra cotta hoods, with keystones, over six of the low arched windows on the upper floor. Brick corbelling divides the side into eight bays, each with three panels, separated by flat brick pilasters, while the front elevation is divided into three bays in much the same manner, but with essentially no corbelling.

The Tivoli, which was more impressive when built with its arcaded first floor and overhanging balcony, which have since been removed^ and the impressive Spieth and Krug Brewery, were matched in architectural quality by Smith's Palace Saloon and Billiard Hall (135 E. Main). The Palace was designed in the High Victorian Gothic style by architects Vreeland & Kemna, and was constructed as part of a formal grouping of three buildings, 131, 135, and 137 E. Main, all built between 1880 and 1883, that progressively increase in height. The group terminates with the tallest and perhaps most impressive of the three, the Italianate style Masonic Temple, which stands on the corner.
From the NRHP Registration Form

GALLATIN LODGE NO. 6
Chartered in 1866, Gallatin Masonic Lodge No. 6 built this brick corner block in 1883 for an estimated $20,000, then a princely sum. The grandest of several buildings erected during the early 1880s following the arrival of the railroad, this Masonic temple was constructed despite an earlier schism among Bozeman’s Masons caused by opposing Civil War sympathies. Accusations that “only the sons of members or Confederates could gain admission to the Gallatin Lodge” led to the creation of Bozeman Lodge No. 18 in 1872, and both lodges struggled with small memberships. Nevertheless, the two lodges remained friendly, and the Bozeman Lodge also sometimes used this meeting hall. The Masons rented the first floor to various businesses, including Bozeman National Bank. Although the exterior of the building has been modernized, the Masons still meet on the second floor. The original carpet, imported from England in 1884 and intricately woven with Masonic symbols, remains in place. The horse sign, installed in 1968 atop the marquee to advertise a first-floor clothing store, is now a Bozeman landmark.
From the plaque at the building