Masonic Temple
A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting.
For specific buildings named Masonic Temple, see Masonic Temple (disambiguation).First Temples[edit]
The first Masonic Hall was built in 1765 in Marseille, France.[1] A decade later in May, 1775, the cornerstone of what would come to be known as Freemasons' Hall, London, was laid in solemn ceremonial form spurring a trend that would continue to present day.[2] Most lodges, however, could not afford to build their own facilities and instead rented rooms above commercial establishments (hotels, banks and opera houses were the most common landlords).[3] With permanent facilities, the term "Masonic Temple" began to be applied not just to the symbolic formation of the Temple, but also to the physical place in which this took place. It began to be applied to the lodge rooms themselves. (A similar transfer took place with the term Masonic Lodge, which in ritual terms refers to the people assembled and not to the place of assemblage. In common usage, however, it began to be applied to the place as well as the people.)
In the latter half of the nineteenth century, as the popularity of Freemasonry grew, more and more lodges began to have the financial wherewithal to own their own premises. In many locations this was spurred by changing tax laws that allowed fraternal and benevolent societies to own property and lease space without being taxed as commercial landlords. In larger towns and cities, where there were many lodges, it became economical for groups of lodges to band together and either purchase or build their own buildings with both commercial space and lodge rooms in the same building, the rents from the former funding upkeep of the latter. This was especially true in cities where the Grand Lodge met.[4] These buildings, too, began to be referred to as "Masonic Temples", "Masonic Halls", or "Masonic Lodges".[2]
In smaller towns the trend was different. Here, instead of building large impressive buildings in the hopes of attracting multiple commercial tenants, the local lodges tended to build more modest structures, with space for a single tenant, a small meeting hall for public rental, or no rental space at all. In addition, especially in the United States, lodges founded in established communities would purchase buildings that had historic value as lodge members wanted their new lodge to be associated with the history of their local community like their older counterparts. Thus they looked to purchase old churches, schools and the homes of community founders, which they would convert into lodge meeting space. These too began to be known as "Masonic Temples".[5]
Naming conventions[edit]
When Freemasons first began building dedicated structures the more frequently used term for a Masonic Temple was Masonic Hall. This began to change in the mid 19th century when the larger Masonic Halls most often found in major cities began to be named with the term Masonic Temple. As time went on more and more American buildings began using the name Masonic Temple regardless of their size or location.[2] In US Freemasonry today the term Masonic Hall is experiencing a revival motivated in part by the public misconception that Masons conduct a form of religious worship in their Temples.[7]
Usage[edit]
Though Masonic Temples in their most basic definition serve as a home to one or more Masonic Lodges and bodies, they can also serve many other purposes as well. Smaller Masonic Temples will often consist of nothing more than a meeting room with a kitchen/dining area and bar attached. Larger Masonic Temples can contain multiple meeting rooms, concert halls, libraries, and museums as well as non-masonic commercial and office space.[8]