Mysteries of the Masonic Temple Kristen Inbody, kinbody@greatfallstribune 8:21 a.m. MST December 8, 2014 The 100-year-old Masonic Temple sits on the cornerThe 100-year-old Masonic Temple sits on the corner of Central Avenue and 9th Street in Great Falls. (Photo: Larry Beckner, TRIBUNE PHOTO/LARRY BECKNER) Buy Photo Fullscreen The 100-year-old Masonic Temple sits on the corner Alan Frohberg, a temple board trustee, looks though The Masonic Temple has years of archives stored in The top of a staff is adorned with a cornucopia at A chair located outside of the door of the lodge meeting Ornate details with paintings and architecture, here The 100-year-old Masonic Temple has interesting features, Portraits of past Masters of the Euclid Lodge hand Billiard balls sit in a pocket of billiard table at Billiard balls in a rack at the Masonic Temple where Billiard balls in a rack at the Masonic Temple where A volume of Encyclopedia of Freemasonry sit on bookshelves An auditorium has been uses for civic meetings in the Walter Bruening of Great Falls was once the oldest Sandpaper in a small wooden frame was used for men The door that enters the lodge meeting room on the The top of a staff is adorned with a compass, square The Freemasons meet in the lodge meeting room on the A knocker on the door of the lodge meeting room on Ornate items like this doorknob located outside of The Tylers Freemason sward is located outside of the Symbols of Freemasons can be found everywhere in the A King James Bible sits on an alter in the center of The cornerstone of the 100-year-old Masonic Temple The Masonic Temple located at the corner of Central Next Slide This building, still standing, is a testament to their craftsmanship. - Alan Frohberg, Masonic Temple trustee May here be taught the ennobling principles of the mystic art in all their pristine purity from generation unto generation. The Great Falls Masonic Temple at 821 Central Ave. For a century, the Masonic Temple has been a Great Falls icon, dating back to the days when people questioned why the fraternal organization would build so far out of town. From the stained glass window on Central Avenue to the most secret rooms on the top stories, the history of the Masons locally and internationally is incorporated into the building. Temples can be a bane as maintenance costs rise, but the building also is iconic for Masons, said Roger Cathel, a temple trustee. It gives you a deeper sense of purpose and of history, he said. How many like-minded men have come through these doors? The craftsmanship of the building, finished in 1917, is remarkable, said Alan Frohberg, a temple trustee. I love the history. This wood was not mass produced. They handmade this, Frohberg said. These craftsmen gave their time and effort. This building, still standing, is a testament to their craftsmanship. Architects Johannes Van Teylingen and Alex Mowbray invoked Tudor England architecture with the dramatic three-story central tower housing the staircase and elevator. The buildings bracketed balconies, multicolored brick, stone and terra cotta aimed for a Spanish style, associated with recreation. Van Teylingen, a Holland native, also designed the Civic Center, Butte High School and Turner Hall at the University of Montana, along with many schools and churches. The building cost $100,000, about $2.3 million today. Before the temple opened, the lodges met in buildings downtown, among them Beckmans. After a Mason donated land, members set about erecting the temple. There was never a mortgage. The men just divided it up and paid out of pocket, Frohberg said. The Tribune was shocked the Masons built so far out of town. Central Avenue and 9th Street could hardly be more centrally located today, but 100 years ago the view from the top windows of the temple was very different, mostly open prairie. At the temples dedication in 1914, more than 200 Masons lined the streets for a procession to the building site. Into a time capsule went a list of officers and members, the roster of the Great Falls public schools, a copy of the 1912 lodge proceedings, a copy of the 1912 Masonic Code, a Bible, a June 6, 1914, copy of the Great Falls Daily Leader, a June 7, 1914, copy of the Great Falls Daily Tribune and coins issued in 1913. We are now erecting a mighty temple. Its builders are the Masons of Great Falls, Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master of Montana Lew Callaway said. This temple is for the enjoyment, benefit and satisfaction of all the votaries of Masonry. It will benefit mankind ... May here be taught the ennobling principles of the mystic art in all their pristine purity from generation unto generation. -masonic temple 20.jpg_20141118.jpgBuy Photo The Masonic Temple has years of archives stored in the building.(Photo: TRIBUNE PHOTO/LARRY BECKNER) Fellowship, secrets and a few mysteries After a short ride in one of Montanas oldest elevators, one arrives at the top floor of the Masonic Temple. Outside the lodge room, cigar holders and coat hooks speak to generations of men gathered to converse before meetings (now no smoking is allowed). Recently the Masons have added display cases highlighting local Mason history. One of the first features Walter Breuning, a Mason from 1925 to his death in 2011, more than 86 years. Masons age well, because an organization like the Masons promotes taking care of each other, Frohberg said. The lodge room has 16-foot ceilings hand painted in 1920 with Masonic symbols. As old as our fraternity is, it was not common that people were literate in the early years, so moral lessons incorporated symbols as a teaching tool, Frohberg said. A balcony looks over the room for overflow seating and an organ. -masonic temple 19.jpg_20141118.jpgBuy Photo Ornate details with paintings and architecture, here in the lodges meeting room on the third floor, can be found throughout the temple.(Photo: TRIBUNE PHOTO/LARRY BECKNER) The chairs, some elaborate, and benches circle the room, with an altar in the middle. A Bible is open on top. The building is oriented east-west, and the worshipful grandmaster sits on the eastern side of the room. We have a specific way of doing everything, step by step, Frohberg said. The second floor has another lodge room, used by specialized groups of Masons. It has a stage with chairs for leadership and a small stage. Another room is stuffed with memorabilia dating back to the 1800s, among them Knights Templar uniforms made for men of a different era (with 26-inch chests), books and props. Some of the rituals have been lost to time. We dont even know what some of these things are for, Frohberg said. The most interesting artifact Cathel has come upon is dollars made from leather and backed by a Conrad bank, with a 1934 expiration date. The dollars were tucked in a box lined with newspaper from 1898. Between the room and the hall is an eight-foot room with stairs leading up to it on both sides. The room is empty and no one seems to know what its for. Another door opens halfway up the wall with no discernible purpose. Its one of the mysteries of the building, Frohberg said. Instead of benches, the room uses seats from the old Liberty Theater. -masonic temple 23.jpg_20141118.jpgBuy Photo A King James Bible sits on an alter in the center of a meeting room in the Masonic Temple.(Photo: TRIBUNE PHOTO/LARRY BECKNER) Other rooms are private. The first floor is given over to an auditorium used for public ceremonies and womens and girls meetings. Originally the room was a dance floor; the city council briefly met there. In the 1940s, the room was remade for a theater-type design. A neon G glows above a stage. A hallway behind the theater seats shows what the room looked like when the temple opened, with a bit of the dance floor, filled-in windows and paint remaining. The basement is the most casual of the floors in the temple. The basement has a kitchen, as well as a billiards room undergoing renovation. It has ivory pool balls and circa 1914 Brunswick-Balke-Collender Co. pool tables. Recreation is a vital part of fraternity. How do we encourage men to look at fraternal and civic groups, which are all struggling for membership. People dont get as involved in their communities as they did. Guys go home, open a beer and get on the Internet, Fromberg said. Theres more to life. On Saturday mornings, Masons host an open coffee where men interested in joining or people with questions are invited to visit. One of the great myths is you have to be asked. A man has to come to our organization by his own free will and accord, and Masons dont market their group, Frohberg said. The idea is good men gather together. We congregate around food, and we eat a lot. Former vaults once housed member valuables in the days when banks were shaky. Now theyre stuffed with records, though Masons have been streamlining 127 years of history, including bread receipts from the 1890s. -masonic temple 2.jpg_20141118.jpgBuy Photo Alan Frohberg, a temple board trustee, looks though old records of the Masonic Temple.(Photo: TRIBUNE PHOTO/LARRY BECKNER) The apartment in the basement is no longer inhabited. For 30-some years, a couple lived in and cared for the building. Collections of photos on every level show the lodges leadership through more than a hundred years. Portraits of presidents George Washington, Harry Truman and Andrew Jackson are on display. Fourteen presidents have been Masons. Some families have five or six generations tied to the Masonic temple, but Frohberg is a first-generation Mason. I came from an anti-Masonic family for religious reasons, but theres nothing that conflicts with my religion, he said. You just have to believe in a supreme being. We dont talk religion or politics. Its just too divisive. Masons in Montana Masonry in Montana dates back at least to the first Americans to reach this land. Meriwether Lewis was a Mason, and his Mason apron is one of the most important assets of the Masonic Grand Lodge in Helena. No doubt after many campfire discussions with Lewis about Masonic values, William Clark became a Mason after returning east. The first Mason meeting, though, came with a gathering of three members on the first Fisk expedition on Sept. 23, 1862, on the Mullan Pass. At the original dedication of the Great Falls temple, Callaway noted that just more than 50 years had passed since that legendary first meeting upon a high hill near the summit of the Rocky Mountains in the closing splendor of a summers day ... viewing the new land of promise. The first formal meeting was in Bannack. A man died and wished for a Masonic funeral, an event that gathered Masons together. On Dec. 20, 1864, Virginia City Masons were granted a charter. Masons eventually formed the core of the Vigilantes, too. The reason for this was undoubtedly that they, being bound to each other while others, not members of the craft, though equally well disposed, had not the means of coherency, Callaway said. In less than 60 days, the road agents had been put out of the way and law triumphed in the land. And we can say that in the procession of the years whenever a crisis has occurred in the history of the territory and state of Montana the members of this society have been found joining in and supporting every movement which has been for the moral uplift and security of its citizens, he added. The Grand Lodge of Montana organized in 1866 and got busy issuing charters to new lodges, in Missoula, Deer Lodge and towns lost to history. Masonry in Great Falls stretches back almost to the very beginning of the city. Euclid Lodge 58 historically had ties to the education system, drawing teachers and administrators. Cascade 34 had ties to the Anaconda Co. Delta Lodge 128 has been the businessmans lodge. In 1887, the Cascade Lodge formed in Great Falls with 11 members. At the temples founding, the Cascade Lodge had 240. The local Euclid Lodge got its charter in 1903, with membership growing from 13 members to 130 by 1914. The Delta Lodge dates from 1920. The lodges were really tied to the vocations of them men in them, Frohberg said. Those lodges we still have today. Weve had others come and go. World War II veterans flooded fraternal organizations, and 100 men would come to a lodge meeting in those post-war years. Today, Montana has 92 lodges with 5,000 members. Going forward Masonic membership skipped a generation in Cathels family. As a man, he met a Mason who rekindled his childhood interest in the organization to which his grandfather had belonged. The camaraderie is paramount, he said. No matter what a mans walk in life, hes a brother. The Masons also have charitable causes, mostly behind the scenes. -masonic temple 13.jpg_20141118.jpgBuy Photo The top of a staff is adorned with a compass, square and the sun at the Masonic Temple.(Photo: TRIBUNE PHOTO/LARRY BECKNER) The day may come when local Masons have to let the temple go. In October, Masons in Havre sold their iconic 99-year-old lodge when it became too expensive to own. The Great Falls building shows its age — as well as recent improvements. There may come a time this isnt a Mason building, Frohberg said. We run on a shoestring budget. The gas bill is up to $2,200 a month, with steam-line heat and a boiler thats on or off
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 16:32:15 +0000
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