page_title: List of Masonic buildings in the United States
section_title: Massachusetts
hierarchical_section_title: List of Masonic buildings in the United States / Massachusetts
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: sightsinbostonsu00puls_0 (find matches) Title: Sights in Boston and suburbs, or, Guide to the stranger Year: 1856 (1850s) Authors: Pulsifer, David, 1802-1894 Andrew, John, 1815-1875, egr. Billings, Hammatt, 1818-1875, egr. Hill George W., 1815-1893, egr. Barry, egr. Subjects: Boston (Mass.)--Guidebooks Boston (Mass.)--History Boston (Mass.)--Public buildings Railroads--Massachusetts--Boston Railroads--Massachusetts--Boston--Stations Cemeteries--Massachusetts--Boston Boston Harbor Islands (Mass.)--Description Churches--Massachusetts--Boston Historic buildings--Massachusetts--Boston Theatres--Massachusetts--Boston Associations, institutions, etc.--Massachusetts--Boston Travel literature--Massachusetts--Boston--19th century Guidebooks--Massachusetts--Boston--19th century Advertisements--Massachusetts--Boston--19th century Publisher: John P. Jewett &amp; Co. Jewett, Proctor &amp; Worthington Contributing Library: Elms College Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Public Library View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: large experience, in that department, ofDr. Morrill Wyman, of Cambridge. Mr. Alpheus C.Morse, a native of Boston, (a partner of Mr. Snell,) hasalso assisted in the arrangement of the decorations of theinterior. The entrances are from Winter Street, Bumstead Place,and Bromfield Street. Ample accommodations are afford-ed for drawing rooms, alcoves, offtces, &amp;c. Masonic Temple. — This building is situated in Tre-mont Street, on part of the land that was formerly Wash-ington Gardens. The corner stone was laid October 11,1830, with appropriate Masonic ceremonies, by the GrandLodge of Massachusetts. This Temple was dedicated May MASONIC TEMPLE. 57 30, 1832. It is sixty feet wide, and eighty and a halffeet long, and fronts westwardly on Tremont Street. Thewalls are fifty-two feet high, of stone, covered with a slatedroof, twenty-four feet high, containing sixteen windows tolight the. attic story. The gutters ai^e of cast iron, andthe water trunks are of copper. The basement is of fine Text Appearing After Image: hammered gi^anite, twelve feet high, with a belt of thesame. The towers at the corners next Tremont Streetare sixteen feet square, surmounted with granite battle-ments, and pinnacles rising ninety-five feet from theground. The door and window frames are of fine ham- 58 BOSTON SIGHTS. merecl granite, and the main walls, from the basement tothe roof, are of Quincj granite, disposed in courses, insuch a manner as to present a finished appearance to theeye. The blocks are triangular in shape, and there isprobably no other such building in Massachusetts. From the street are two flights of winding stairs inthe towers, sufficiently spacious to admit a free entranceto the live stories of the building. The first story isoccupied for miscellaneous purposes; the second by thespacious salesrooms of Messrs. Chickering &amp; Sons; andthe third, fourth, and fifth stories for Masonic purposes.The difierent Lodges meet as follows&#160;: — St. Johns Lodge, first Monday; St. Andrews, secondThursday; Massac Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: List of Masonic buildings in the United States identifies notable Masonic buildings in the United States. These have served as meeting halls by Masonic lodges, Grand Lodges or other Masonic bodies. Many of the buildings were built to house Masonic meetings and ritual activities in their upper floors, and to provide commercial space below. Many of the buildings listed have received landmark status, either by being listed on the National Register of Historic Places or listed by various State or City preservation agencies.
  In 2019, more than 390 Masonic buildings are listed here.
context_section_description: Boston has been the site of several significant Masonic buildings.
  In 1830, the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts bought land on Tremont Street to build a Masonic Temple. A building was constructed on the site and dedicated in 1832, but initially could not be owned by the Grand Lodge because of legal limitations on the value of real estate that the Grand Lodge could hold. Masons used the Masonic Temple for meetings until 1858, when the building was sold to the U.S. government for use as a courthouse.  The building lent its name to the Temple School, established by Bronson Alcott, which was housed in the building during the 1830s. The 1832 Masonic Temple, located at the corner of a street named Temple Place, also held a concert hall and was the site of many public lectures by Ralph Waldo Emerson, including his reading of The Transcendentalist in 1842. Following its sale to the government, it housed a courthouse until 1885.
  Beginning in 1859, Boston's Masons occupied a building at the corner of Tremont and Boylston Streets that was known as Winthrop House, and that was rededicated as "Freemason's Hall" in December 1859. That building was destroyed by fire in April 1864. A grand new Masonic Temple building, designed by Merrill G. Wheelock, was built in its place on the same site and dedicated in 1867.
  Also in Massachusetts:
caption: Masonic Temple at Tremont St. and Temple Place, Boston, 1856. St. Paul's Church is on the left.
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