By T.S. Akers
The New Masonic Temple
(Courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society)
Freemasonry
arrived in Oklahoma City in 1889. After meeting at two previous locations, the
Freemasons resided at the “Baptist White Temple” located on Broadway, just
north of the Skirvin Hotel. This period of fraternalism saw massive growth in
membership and in 1918 the Masonic Temple Building Association, led by the India
Shrine, resolved to erect a new Masonic Temple at the southwest corner of
Northwest 6th and Robinson at a cost of $500,000.
Construction
began on the new Masonic Temple in 1921 and the Cornerstone was laid by Grand
Master Leslie H. Swan, of Oklahoma City, on 13 October 1922. By the time the
Masons occupied the building in 1923, the total construction cost was
$1,050,000. The first $500,000 came from funds accumulated by the Masonic Temple
Building Association; a ten year loan was also procured in the amount of
$556,000. Additionally, a second mortgage was taken out in the sum of $250,000
to decorate and furnish the Temple. Ultimately, these mortgages would be the
undoing of the Temple.
Cornerstone ceremony for the Masonic Temple, 1922
(Courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society)
Entering the
new Masonic Temple from Robinson, visitors found a spacious lobby with access
to the secretarial offices of the Masonic Orders housed there. A wide corridor
led directly to the Shrine Auditorium. With a 40x90 foot stage, the auditorium
seated 3,000 people and could be isolated from the rest of the building, with
an entrance from 6th Street, for public functions in order to not
interfere with Masonic activities. A smaller auditorium, Harding Hall, which
seated 700 people was also located on the first floor. The second floor housed
social rooms, billiard rooms, and lounge areas for the Masons. The top floor
was comprised of the meeting rooms for the sixteen Masonic Orders that met at
the Temple. The building also included a basement which served as the banquet
and ball room.
The Shrine Auditorium
(Courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society)
The Knights Templar Room
(Courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society)
Knights Templar in front of the Temple, 1925
(Courtesy of the Grand Commandery Knights Templar of Oklahoma)
In 1927, the
Masonic Temple Building Association approved a resolution to execute two large
mortgage notes with the American First Trust Company to pay off the bonds and
floating indebtedness in a move to save $20,000 in interest. The following
year, an agreement was entered into with the Mid-West Entertainment Company (what
would become Warner Brothers) to lease the Shrine Auditorium for a sum of
$12,500 per year. The beginning of the end came for the new Masonic Temple on
29 October 1929, when the stock market crashed.
In an
attempt to save the Temple, the Masonic Temple Building Association agreed to
lease all of the first and second floor, except for the Shrine Auditorium and
Harding Hall, as commercial business space in 1930. As Masonic membership began
to rapidly decline owing to the economic downturn that would become the Great
Depression, the Temple was officially turned over to the lender on 4 September
1931. A rent agreement was soon reached to allow some Masonic Orders to remain
in the Temple. By 1934, all but India Shrine had agreed to vacate. Ultimately,
the Shriners would leave the Temple in 1937 and the building sat empty for 13
years until purchased by the Home State Life Insurance Company at a sheriff’s
sale for $201,000.
The Knights Templar Room as it appeared after purchase by the Home State Life Insurance Company
(Courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society)
After
serving as the home of the Journal Record and surviving the bombing of the
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, Oklahoma City’s Masonic Temple was acquired
by Heritage Wealth Management in 2015. Now known as The Heritage, the Temple
has a new lease on life as alternative office space.
† Gene McKelvey, The Masonic History of the Murrah Building Bombing Memorial Museum (Oklahoma: The Oklahoma Lodge of Research).
India Shrine Parade, originating at the new Masonic Temple, c. 1929
(Courtesy of the Oklahoma Historical Society)
† Gene McKelvey, The Masonic History of the Murrah Building Bombing Memorial Museum (Oklahoma: The Oklahoma Lodge of Research).
