historic preservation

Designed by the Hutchinson, Kansas architecture firm of W.E. Hulse & Co., erected between 1923-1924, and dedicated in 1924, the Marceline Masonic Lodge #481 at 201 N. Main St. U.S.A. (N. Kansas Ave.) in Marceline, Linn County, Missouri is located on a prominent corner in Marceline’s downtown commercial district and its size, style, design and color all combine to make it stand out from the other buildings in the area. This rectangular, two-story structure was built to accommodate Marceline’s Masonic brotherhood and its chapters and allied organizations. The lodge stands on the northwest corner of N. Main St. U.S.A. (N. Kansas Ave.) and West Ritchie Avenue immediately west of Ripley Park, located across the street on N. Main Street U.S.A. Measuring 50 feet x 100 feet, the building is divided vertically into three bays at its east elevation (façade) and nine bays at its south elevation, both of which are faced with buff brick the west elevation is a smooth, parged wall with red brick, while the north elevation abuts the one-part commercial block building and shows common red brick on the exposed second floor. The lodge’s primary and secondary façades (the east or N. Main Street U.S.A. façade and the south facing Ritchie Ave façade) with limestone highlights, and emphasizes a symmetrical, linear composition. The east façade features a central entrance flanked by stacked limestone cavetto moldings. Masonic symbols are placed over the main entrance and embedded in the stepped parapet with a stone capping at the top of the building; the west elevation is parged. In contrast to the stylized decoration on its primary façades, the building’s interior is functional and conservatively decorated with mostly classical historic detailing.

The 2018 Marceline Survey assessed the Lodge as “generally characteristic of” Beaux-Arts.[1]

The historical integrity of Masonic Lodge #481 is largely intact. The external limestone and brick remain unaltered for 100 years. Each elevation maintains the historical material used to build the nominated property. Most changes occurred because of storm damage and changes in laws and regulations (such as ADA requirements) but have not significantly altered the general layout of the property. Both the interior and exterior maintain their historical integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.

While the building has undergone no structural changes it has been updated with new electrical, lighting, and custom-made energy efficient windows that fit the original window openings and have a similar look and feel to the historical windows (Figure 23).[2] Several minor alterations, such as boarded up basement windows (Figure 24 shows an internal view of the historic windows), new entry door, the majority of original plaster on both floors replaced with drywall,  the combining of two rooms on the first floor to create a bathroom in order to comply with ADA regulations, and the sealing off of a staircase leading from the first-floor entrance to the basement, have been made.

While there have been alterations between 1923 and the present day, “the overall sense of past time and place is evident.” [3] Given its style and maintained historical integrity, the Marceline Masonic Lodge #481 is locally significant and eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C: ARCHITECTURE as an excellent example of BEAUX-ARTS style in Marceline.

SETTING

The Marceline Masonic Temple covers most of two lots, approximately 5000 square feet, at the intersection of N. Main St. U.S.A. (N. Kansas Ave.) and W. Ritchie Avenue is in Marceline’s downtown commercial district that extends five blocks, running north and south along Kansas Avenue (locally known as Main Street U.S.A.). The downtown district is mostly intact, with a mix of non-historic and historic buildings ranging from a now-closed historic hotel to one- and two-part commercial block buildings and an historic theatre. Only three lots do not contain permanent structures; two are urban parks and one contains a patio area for a social organization. Most properties are at least 50 years old, with some being at least 100 years old.

 

ELABORATION

Setting

The previous two-part commercial block building that housed the Masonic Lodge located at this corner burned down in 1903. The new building built in its place that covers the original corner lot and includes the building on the lot to the north to replace the 1903 building was also a two-part commercial block building. Figure 16 indicates it was a two-part commercial block. The 1903 building later burned down in 1923 and was replaced by the current building.[4]

During the construction of the current building, the grade was maintained. When viewed from the south elevation facing north, a 5-to-10-degree slope exposing more of the building as it slopes down toward the west elevation is obvious.

Landscaping is minimal; the building is slightly obstructed by one small tree when looking west from across the street toward the east façade. The Masonic Lodge constitutes a major architectural presence along N. Main St. U.S.A. (N. Kansas Ave.), which is at the north end of the downtown commercial district. The Lodge shares its block with a one-part commercial block building directly to its north, the brick, three story, two-part commercial block IOOF/Magnolia Building two doors down, a brick one-part commercial block building, a modern, steel paneled Knights of Columbus Hall, a lot with a patio next to the Knights of Columbus building, and a non-historic building with metal siding and a front façade of non-historic plaster. Ripley Park is directly across from the Lodge.

A small green space exists at the west elevation extending from the west façade to the alley making up the west boundary of the property.

All terms used in the follow sections and subsections use the terminology found in the original blueprints. Some of these terms may differ from those used today for similar structures, but to ensure accuracy to the original plans, those are the terms being used.

 

Exterior of the Marceline Masonic Lodge

Because of its height, mass, buff brick color, and position on a corner lot and the near absence of trees in its landscaping, the Marceline Masonic Lodge #481 dominates the intersection of N. Main Street U.S.A. and W. Ritchie Avenue. It is rectangular and measures “approximately 50’ 0” wide; 100’ 0” long and two stories high.”[5] The main entrance door is centered in the main façade of the east elevation and two sealed non-historic maintenance doors are located at the north and south sides of the west elevation.

On the east (primary) and south (secondary) façades of the building, courses of blond brick in an alternating Flemish bond face all floors, as specified in the original contract which states, “Every seventh course of brick will be laid in a Flemish bond course with alternate brick being laid as headers and stretchers. The headers extending full length into the brick backing.”[6] Cut standard gray Indiana Oolitic limestone is also used for the embellishments at various divisions on the south and east façades.[7] A metal sign with incandescent lighting that illuminates a pane with the Masonic orders that meet in the building hangs from the south bay of the primary façade. The other two façades (north and west) are of red brick laid in common bond, with parging with a thin layer of mortar over at the west elevation (Photos 3-4). The second-floor wall is the only part of the north elevation wall that is externally visible. It towers above the area where the Masonic Lodge meets the one-story one-part commercial block building to its north. Historic wooden window and door frames on the south and east elevations hold non-historic windows and the main entry. The top of the building’s basement wall, which holds six boarded up basement windows, are visible along the south elevation as the grade slopes downward toward the west from the east elevation.

The southeast corner of the building contains the limestone cornerstone.

The roof is non-historic sheet metal. All windows and doors are non-historic unless otherwise noted. These alterations took place at various times and are discussed in more depth in the “Alterations” subsection below.

 

East Elevation (Primary Façade)

The east façade consists of three bays organized into three vertical units and five horizontal sections as indicated by four limestone divisions. The lowest horizontal section encompasses the basement area. Moving up, the second section is the first floor, the second floor, followed by a thin strip of brick topped by a parapet and capped with limestone.

The walls are covered with buff brick. The cornerstone is embedded in the southeast corner of the building with one side visible on the east elevation and another side is visible on the south elevation; it is of Corinthian stone. Clearly visible on the eastern side of the elevation is an inscription reading: “Aug. 14, 1923 A.L. 6923 Bert S. Lee, Grand Master”. The southern side inscription is: “Marceline Lodge No. 481 A.F. & A.M.” with the Masonic “G” symbol centered between “No. 481” and “A.F. & A.M.”. The buff brick wythe is over a common brick wythe of number one grade hard burned shale brick and include the 35,200 old bricks saved from the original building.[8] A non-historic metal neon sign hangs out about three feet from the wall of the southernmost bay of this elevation (Photo 5).

 

First Floor

All windows and doors are non-historic unless otherwise noted. Two short straight-run steps lead to the main entrance’s central bay. The non-historic double door is framed by stacked limestone cavetto molding. Stacked stone flush on the left and right sides of the door and soldier flush course above it, adding more depth to the entrance. The doors are mostly glass with a metal frame and one each horizontal handle that extends across the front of the glass and another along the same internal space. Immediately above the entrance door is a non-historic transom with twelve (12) panels. Over the window is a floral embellishment with the Masonic interlocked compass and square around the “G” symbol centered in it.[9] A rowlock of brick extends from the north to the south of the building breaking only at the central entryway.

The center bay extends out 6” according to the blueprint specifications, making the south and north sides recessed and creating advancing and receding planes; the measurement is accurate today. All corners are highlighted by stacked buff bricks in running bond with a soldier course recessed 3/4^th of an inch.

The rectangular windows on the first floor contain 24-panes each; these windows are close facsimiles to the planned historic windows. The original planned windows appear to have two rectangular sashes that allowed the windows to open; aside from minor other details, that is the only major difference between the original windows shown in the blueprints and the current windows. These changes are elaborated in the “Alterations” section below. Each window measures 6’ 6” by 6’ 2” and framed by stacked and soldiered buff bricks that are flush with the windows on three sides, with the left and right sides being stacked brick and the top being a flush soldier course. The two courses blend in the upper corners.

The brick pattern of the lowest region of the first-floor façade face is in running bond course interspersed with a Flemish bond course every 6-7 courses giving depth to the façade and the appearance of masonry rustication. This pattern extends up about five feet to a rowlock course topped with a limestone water table division.

The first floor continues to the water table. At this point, the dividing line between the first and second floors is the belt course extending north to the architrave, located between the first and second floors. From the water table, the upper section of the first floor is comprised of running bond course with a Flemish bond course after four (4) courses. This pattern switches to soldiering, then to five running bond courses with the middle course being Flemish bond.

Each soldier course in recessed approximately 3/4^th of an inch. This pattern is repeated two more times. The final soldier course (the fourth in the series) is flush with the soldiering at the top of the rectangular windows in each of the north and south bays. Above this are six more courses—five running bond and one Flemish. This section of the first-floor façade ends at the above the running bond.

The same patterns repeat throughout the north and south recessed bays of the east façade.

 

Second Floor (East Façade)

All windows and doors are non-historic unless otherwise noted. Above the belt course and up to the entablature the vertical aspects seen in all three bays of the second floor include pilasters, the window fenestrations, limestone plinths, arched windows with panels framed by buff brick and accented with voussoirs, imposts, and limestone keystones. The lintels of the north and south bays are formed by an arched soldiering of the buff brick used throughout the facades while the central bay is topped with a limestone arch and stone spandrels with no evident keystone.

Unless stated otherwise, the second floor is in buff brick in a running bond course from the water table to the architrave.

All three of the second story windows and accompanying arches are flanked by two pairs of pilasters which mimic Doric or Tuscan designs. There are a total of six pairs of pilasters for a total of 12 pilasters. The pilasters project out four (4) inches. The north and south non-historic windows are the same style and measurements as the first-floor windows; the window has a non-historic fan light. It’s unknown how these differ precisely from the historic windows since there is no record of what they ended up looking like; the same holds true for the central bay window described below. The south and north windows set atop a buff brick design that has 6 rows of standard running bond surrounded by buff brick soldiers (top and bottom of running bond) and stretchers (left and right/south and north). The standard running bond is recessed 3/4 of an inch project ¾ of an inch. The central bay’s window is larger than the other four windows on this façade. It is three sections over three sections. The north and south sections each contain eight panes in a 2 x 4 pattern. The central section of the window is 12 over 12 with a 3×4 pattern flanked by two sidelights.

The southernmost pilaster has approximately a 6-inch recess to the left of it that blends into the south elevation. The northern most pilaster has the same detail.

A sign showing the Masonic-related orders that met at the Temple hangs at the south edge of the east façade.[10] It is black metal all around. In the center on both sides sit pieces of glass with the logos/symbols of each order that met there. They are lit up by internal lighting. One piece of glass is faded beyond recognition on the south side of the sign.

 

Entablature and Parapet

There are three bays on this level. It is just below the cornice and extends up to the top of the property. The north and south bays have no embellishments at all. The central bay below the cornice is limestone. In the limestone extending across the central bay is the phrase “MASONIC TEMPLE”.[11]

Above the cornice (as described in the original blueprints, see Figure 6 which includes terminology the architect used to describe each aspect of the façade) in the central bay are two protrusions of buff brick. These are located directly above the pilasters below them. They are not pilasters but do occupy the same width as the pilasters. Limestone squares are centered between these raised brick areas.

As seen in Figures 6 and 8 and Photo 1, there is a running course, above which is another stone course, then an additional standard course, and a rowlock with a 3/4^th inch projection. On the north and south bays, above the rowlock course are 11 rows of running bond that have one Flemish bond interspersed in them. Closers end each course. The central bay of the building is topped with a stepped parapet with limestone running as the cap to the entire façade. The central area includes the same brick pattern seen throughout this horizontal space. The center portion holds three metal plaques. From left to right they are “19”, the Masonic interlocked compass and square around the letter “G” symbol,[12] and the number “23”, denoting the year the building was erected.

 

South Elevation (Secondary Façade)

This elevation exhibits most of the elements and arrangement patterns from the east façade with the notable exception being the window fenestration at the basement level and the number and alignment of windows. The elevation has two protruding sections at the east and west corners respectively and one long middle section. The elevation is divided into nine bays. The east and west sides of this central bay hold one bay each. The central section contains bays containing seven windows and is recessed by 6 inches from the east and west sections.

The same buff brick and courses are found on both the first and second floors with the same divisions as the east façade. The first floor continues the same patterns and contains the same type of windows as the first floor of the east façade’s first and third bays, while the second floor has the same pattern– including pilasters that flank the same arched windows—as seen on the east façade’s first and third bays. The pilasters are laid out thusly: The east and west sections are flanked by paired pilasters; along the seven bays in the long, recessed central section of this façade a pair of pilasters that are one-and-a-half pilasters (a half pilaster is in the recessed corner of the central section next to a full pilaster), flank the center section. Each of the seven bays are divided by one pilaster, for a total of six. There are a total of eight (8) complete pilasters and two (2) half pilasters in this central section.

The basement level is exposed due to a downward slope toward the west elevation. These windows are smaller than the other windows, square and boarded over. They align with the fenestrations of the first and second floor windows. Otherwise, the courses and recesses are identical to the east façade. There are no windows behind this infill. Further research is required to determine when the glass of the windows was removed.

The second, exposed side of the Lodge’s corner stone lies at the southern end of this elevation and is inscribed: “Marceline Lodge No. 481 A.F. & A.M.” with the Masonic “G” symbol centered between the “No. 481” and “A.F. & A.M.”.

North Elevation

All windows and door are non-historic unless otherwise noted. Only the second level of this elevation is exposed, with the first level abutting against the one-part commercial block building to the north. The exposed elevation is common red brick. The upper one-third of the wall was repaired and re-pointed resulting in the color variation of the mortar. Modern ventilation pipes jut out from the wall toward the west elevation. A section of the wall that meets with the west elevation wall at the parapet is covered in steel siding material and the roof is capped with metal flashing. The steel siding material and metal flashing was installed to cover the wall damage caused by the removal of the chimney.

The reason for the variance in the brick color on the exposed wall of this elevation is unknown.[13]

 

West Elevation

elevation constitutes the rear of the building. It faces a small green space that ends at an unpaved alley. The roof edge is lined with non-historic metal gutter material and flashing.  The wall meets the south elevation at which a wythe of historic buff brick blends around to the south elevation corner. The red brick wall is parged; some of mortar has worn off to expose the brick. It contains ten historic openings (one is infilled). Moving from the north to the south at the basement level (all materials within the historic openings are non-historic) there is a single door followed by a drainpipe, an electric meter, three A/C units with wiring going into the building, the infilled coal chute, another gas meter, a vent pipe, a boarded over double door. another drainpipe, a boarded over window, and two utility service boxes. On the main level, four of the six window openings of similar size are fitted with windows and two are utilized to accommodate kitchen ventilation equipment. These are spaced out as follows, moving north to south: one window approximately six feet above ground level and nearly flush with the northwest corner then a window (now kitchen ventilation) about 4-5 feet to the south (right), then two centered windows (approximately 6 feet from window to the north. This pattern repeats to the south with a window located approximately 6 feet to the south, and ending with a window that is nearly flush with the southwest corner of the building.

The fenestration of the elevation is different from the blueprints. Changes, minor in this case, made during the construction, as opposed to after it was built, dealing mostly with the number and location of openings on the basement and first floor levels, are not recorded on the blueprints.

 

Interior of the Marceline Masonic Lodge

All aspects are historic, unless otherwise noted. Non-historic ceiling tiles exist throughout the first and second floors.

Basement

The only entrance to the basement is through the northwest stairs leading to them from the kitchen (Figures 9 and 12). The basement is comprised of some all reused/recycled material from the building that previous occupied this space. The type of walls and foundation depends on the area of the basement.

These stairs lead down to the original boiler room; it is not named as such on the blueprints (nor are any other rooms in the basement). Approximately three-quarters south on the west wall of the boiler room is an opening leading to the historical coal storage room.

The south door of the boiler room leads to a storage room. This room has stairs in an east/west orientation leading to the west wall and double exterior access doors. The original blueprints have these stairs traveling north/south. When the stairs were changed to an east/west orientation rather than how they are shown on the blueprints is unknown. The opening was originally wider to allow the boiler to be installed. The walls use the brick from the previous Lodge building.

A large general basement with a dirt floor occupies the length of the building not occupied by the boiler, coal and storage rooms. This area is separated by a masonry wall from the above rooms. Twelve (12) support posts hold up the building. Two are non-historic metal beams and ten (10) are wood. The beams are historic and original to the 1923 erection of the Lodge; however, the bases of the metal posts have been replaced with non-historic concrete. Stairs led to the east side of the building. These have been sealed in, but originally led to the east elevation foyer . The stairs are aligned the same way as the original blueprints show.

 

First Floor

A small foyer greets guests when they enter through the main doors. To the south when facing west, is a wall that covers the basement stairs (See “Basement” section above). The walls are non-historic drywall. Five steps lead up into a hallway. This hallway leads to the bathrooms and a reception room to the left/south, a reception room with a non-historic door and janitorial closet to the left/south, and the dining hall straight ahead (west). The janitorial closet was originally the men’s bathroom and coat closet.

The dining hall (accessed through double doors) and kitchen take up the majority of the first floor. It is a blending of historic and non-historic features, which includes original historic pass-through windows between the dining hall and kitchen. The historic hardwood floor, doors, milk glass lights, and some features in the kitchen, like the counter and built-in cabinets. Non-historic features include updates to the ventilation system, the non-historic lowered ceiling grid, modern lighting, the addition of fans, and all appliances in the kitchen. The non-historic rectangular windows seen externally while facing north toward the south elevation line the dining room. Two non-historic metal beams faced with wood are spaced equidistance in the dining hall.[14] The kitchen has all its historical cabinets as well as the historic kitchen prep area.

Facing east from the dining hall entrance, a historic wood stairwell leads to the second floor. Hanging above the landing located halfway between the first and second floors is a non-historic chandelier.

To the north are non-historic bathroom facilities. Originally, this area held an alcove, coat room and toilet and reception room. The alcove was extended to incorporate the toilet and coat room, while the reception room were altered to install ADA-compliant restrooms. Otherwise, the layout of the first floor remains largely the same as the original.

Penciled-in changes can be seen on the original blueprints for the first floor. For example, the original plan was to have three entrances into the dining hall. The change took place during the erection of the Lodge.

Kitchen Area

The kitchen area maintains the same footprint with one exception: the orientation of the steps and platform in the storage room at the southwest corner of the first floor have changes. According to the original blueprints, they had a north/south orientation and led to the coal room in the basement. Now it has an east/west orientation that leads to the south bay’s window. The orientation was changed at some unknown time and for an unknown reason.

 

Second Floor

The second floor remains largely the same layout seen in Figure 5. Facing west, a landing leads to the Tilers Room and which leads to the main lodge room where meetings are held. While in the landing facing the Tilers Room (18), to the south (left) is a former smoking room that is currently being remodeled. To the north (right) is a room labeled “Ladies Rest R’m” on the original blueprints. It was never used as a restroom, but instead as the meeting room for the Eastern Star (the women’s branch of the Masons). A door to the toilet and “retiring room” are centered in the middle of the west wall. The layout remains relatively unchanged. The current layout shows the toilet has been moved from the original toilet area, installed in the “retiring room”, and the toilet room is used as a storage room.

Facing west, a centralized door leads from the landing to a room before leading to the main lodge meeting room. This room between the meeting room and landing is identified as “Tilers Rm”. The Tilers Room is a small area with a historic door, lighting and built-in cabinet. To the north (right) of the room is the coat room (now a general storage area) and the men’s toilet (which still exists); the adjoining coat rooms measure 3 ft. by 3 ft. All doors in this area are historic. The former coat room connects to the former locker room that runs most of the north elevation wall. No lockers appear to have been part of this area.

To the south (left) of the Tilers Room is an historic door to The Red Cross Room. This room is currently used as a reception room. The original blueprints show a penciled-in area that shows the plans for this room were modified. According to the revision on the original blueprints the Red Cross Room (which contains its original wood flooring and doors) was combined with an unidentified room directly to its north (directly south of the Tilers Room).

A 45-degree dogleg/chamfered corner was added to the east side of the room when the untitled and Red Cross rooms were combined, and the east wall of the unnamed room extended east to align with the Red Cross Room’s east wall.[15]

These alterations are recorded in the minutes[16] and penciled-in changes can be seen on the original blueprints for the second floor. While faint, the marks clearly indicate the dogleg of the wall was a late revision in the plans; the plans do not show the combining of the untitled room and the Red Cross Room. The walls seen dividing the unnamed room between the Tilers Room and Red Cross rooms were taken out prior to building. These changes are not reflected in the blueprints, but the 5 June 1923 minutes allude to “changes in the partitions” of these rooms.[17]

Both Comm Rooms and the Prep Room remain as they are seen in Figure 5. All retain their original, historic flooring and doors.

The rectangular main meeting room is accessed through either a door in the Tilers Room, through the Prep Room or through the door from the storage area in the far northwest corner of the second floor. This room occupies the majority of the second floor. It occupies 50% of the east to west area of the floor and ends with the platform and covers about ninety percent of the north to south space ending at the locker room (north central part of second floor) and storage area (northwest corner). The meeting room is adorned with historic sconces and lighting. It also has platforms against each wall; these platforms represent the different levels of Masonry based on the number of steps needed to reach the top of the platform: one step, Entered Apprentice, or general brotherhood (these are on the north and south walls), two steps are for Fellow Craft (east wall) and three steps of the Master Mason (west wall).

 

INTEGRITY

The historic integrity of Marceline Masonic Lodge #481 is largely intact. Despite the alterations, most of which were required to bring the property up to code, “the overall sense of past time and place is evident” in the look and feel of the Lodge.[25]

The external limestone and brick remain unaltered for 100 years. Each elevation maintains the historic material used to build the nominated property.

While updates have occurred as noted above, these alterations do not significantly impact the overall integrity of the building.

Internally, as noted above, most of the doors and flooring are original, and very little remodeling has been done (a room was changed on the second floor and new bathrooms were installed on the first floor), and a first-floor bathroom was changed into a janitor’s closet.

Some of the alterations are a result of laws and regulation changes, but they have not significantly altered the general layout of the property. The only major changes that altered the footprint of the property after the date of construction was the conversion of the northeast reception room into ADA-compliant restrooms; otherwise, every room maintains the same dimensions it did when it was erected. Additionally, the Lodge has attempted to approximate the original look by installing near-period replicas of lighting and very similar looking windows, though they function differently. Thus, both the interior and exterior largely maintain their historical integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.

The location of the building remains precisely where it was erected in 1923. The exterior design has been left largely unaltered (some windows and doors have been boarded over for various reasons, the chimney removed, a new roof, and flashing added to the upper portion of the northwest area of the roof). Internally, there are alterations, however, except for the new ADA-compliant bathrooms on the first floor that replaced the north reception room, the alterations have been largely aesthetic (windows, doors, ceilings, etc.) and altered to align with building code updates, help preserve the integrity of the building, or to repair damage from leaking roofs. Likewise, the setting remains the same with the exception of new pavement on Ritchie Ave. and the trees planned by the city at an unknown date; no new buildings surround it, thus the area appears much as it did at the time it was erected. The original design is largely maintained. It still functions as a Masonic Lodge, and externally has the same scale, color, texture and fenestrations as the original blueprint show; internally, the design is largely intact with the exception of the alterations noted earlier. The external materials used in the construction of the property—the bricks from the previous building in that location (see Section 8 for more on this) were used for part of the foundation, the limestone, buff brick, wood flooring, and more—all remain after 100 years with the exception of the modern steel sheeting over the northwest parapet placed there as discussed above, the non-historic windows, and the non-historic doors. The material used inside the building remains largely intact, except for the above-mentioned alterations. Built in cabinets and all internal doors remain. Workmanship is evident throughout the property, particularly externally with the use of subdued Beaux-Arts features (discussed in Section 8); the workmanship is evident in several places internally, too, such as the dining room floors and the original woodwork in the coat and locker rooms. Finally, the association of the property remains the same as it was when the lodge was built in 1923 and remains an operating Masonic lodge.

[1] “Architectural/Historic Inventory Form.” Marceline Survey. Commissioned by Missouri Department of Natural

Resources, State Historic Preservation Office. Masonic Temple. April 2018. Survey No. LI-AS-001-037, pages 232-233. [Marked “Individually Eligible].

[2] The original design of the windows can be seen in Figure 6. When compared to Figure 23 and Photo 1 it is evident

the Lodge attempted to maintain historical looking windows since the Lodge was erected.

[3] National Register Bulletin: How to Complete the National Register Registration Form. U.S. Department of the

Interior National Park Service, Cultural Resources. 1997.

[4] These buildings were all two-part commercial block properties as indicated by the ‘2’ in the upper north corner of

the property on the 1903 and 1911 Sanborn Maps.

[5] “Specifications of All Labor and Materials Included in the General and Mechanical Equipment Contracts for A

Masonic Temple Building at Marceline, MO.” 1923, Marceline Masonic Temple Association archives, p. 1.

These specifications are confirmed in “Temple Directors Meet Architect, To-Day.” The Marceline Journal-Mirror. 30 March 1923.

[6] Ibid, p. 28.

[7] Ibid, p. 26.

[8] Ibid, p. 35.

[9] In the Masonic tradition, the compass and square are tools of the Master Mason and represent reason and faith. The

tradition also states the “G” stands for God and geometry. “Learn About Freemasonry: What does the G

Stand For?”, Museum of Freemasonry. Accessed 13 November 2023. https://museumfreemasonry.org.uk/blog/learn-about-freemasonry-what-does-g-stand.

[10] It is unknown if this sign is original to the building because there are no records stating when it was installed.

However, the electrical set up for it, indicates it could be historic.

[11] This section is using those terms used on the original blueprints and that are evident in the finished product.

[12] See Section 8 for a discussion about the “G” symbolism within Free Masonry.

[13] Missouri SHPO asserts that there are two possible reasons for this: The mortar used during repair work to the area after the chimney work damaged the area gives the appearance of a different color or the bricks may have been cleaned when the repair work was completed. However, the true reason for the variance is unknown.

[14] Via Fred Lewis directly during November 2023 SHPO visit: “the metal beams are original to the building and that they extend to the second floor. They are not part of any repair, only that the concrete surrounding the base of the beams had been increased to encapsulate the base an additional height to reduce lateral movement. The two columns in the dining room are the beams continuing to the second level and have a covering to conceal the fact of the metal beams. The floor on the second level has two areas that correspond with the support beans and those areas have not settled to the extent that the rest of the second level floor has.”

 

[15] There is some debate as to when and why this chamfered corner was created. It is clear from the etchings on the

original blueprints that this was discussed during construction and that at least three variations of the wall were considered. The dogleg corner was the option that was used. See Figures 5, 11 and 17.

[16] These alterations are all discussed in more depth in Section 8 in the section about the construction of the building,

which indicate these changes were part of the original plans and not later alterations.

[17] “Minutes of the Marceline Masonic Temple Association.” Marceline Masonic Temple

Association, 5 June 1923, Marceline, MO.

[18] See Section 8 discussion.

[19] “Wind and Rainstorm Hits Marceline.” The Marceline Journal-Mirror. 13 June 1924.

[20] Ibid.

[21] Compare Figures 4 and 10 for alterations.

[22] Lewis, 2 February 2024.

[23] Figures 4-10 show that the internal layout remains largely the same.

[24] See Figures 4-12.

[25] National Register Bulletin: How to Complete the National Register Registration Form. U.S. Department of the

Interior National Park Service, Cultural Resources. 1997.