History Walk Site 8: Masonic Temple Grove Lodge

Prominent Chicago architects Fugard & Knapp designed this handsome building in 1924 for Grove Lodge N. 824, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. It is a creative combination of two English revival styles – Georgian and English Country. The brick body of the building is Georgian, with round arches, pronounced, limestone keystones and impost blocks, while the top floor is English Country, with decorative heavy timber and stucco and ornamental “crucks”, which are curved timbers that support, or in this case appear to support, a roof. Most of the building’s masonry is laid in English bond, a nod to the country of origin of the Georgian Revival style, but the entrance features decorative brickwork (volutes, a basket-weave course, diaper patterns) whose elaboration suggests Freemasonry itself. 

The cornerstone was laid on July 12, 1924. Grove Lodge held their first meeting in their new temple on February 16, 1925. A celebratory ball was held in the upstairs ballroom as part of the grand opening. During the Great Depression the building served as the registration center for the national Re-Employment Service to register men for New Deal government work. The Lodge almost lost their building in the economic crisis, but in 1937 Lodge Master Charles K. McCann bought it for taxes and sold it back to the Lodge for $1.00. During WWII the building was used as a Civil Defense Shelter and military motor pool-training center. It also served as a temporary hospital during the 1947 Zephyr train crash.