Masonic Temple Building (Blount Street, Raleigh, North Carolina) Explained

The Masonic Temple Building, built in 1907, is an historic Prince Hall Masonic building located at 427 South Blount Street in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.. On May 3, 1984, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, for its social contributions to Black history.^[1]

History

It is a three-story, red brick flat roofed building. It has a metal cornice at the top of the first floor level and a cast iron Corinthian order column at the corner.^[2] It was designed by Black architect Gaston Alonzo Edwards.^[3]

It is one of two places of the same name in Raleigh on the National Register of Historic Places, the other being the much larger Masonic Temple Building, Fayetteville Street (Raleigh, North Carolina), which was also built in 1907.

Today it is occupied by Widow's Son Lodge #4 and Excelsior Lodge #21 as well as barber shops and a beauty salon.

See also

• Prince Hall Freemasonry

External links

• Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of North Carolina website

Notes and References

1. http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/05/27/2921539/raleigh-masonic-lodge-a-tough.html Stradling, Richard, Prince Hall temple to be renovated
2. Web site: Charlotte Vestal Brown and William Bushong. Masonic Temple Building . National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory . November 1983 . North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office . 2015-05-01.
3. Book: Wilson, Dreck Spurlock . African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865–1945 . March 2004 . Routledge . 978-1-135-95629-5 . 186–189 . en . Gaston Alonzo Edwards (1875–1943).