Allentown Masonic Temple

The story

Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com

The Allentown Masonic Temple is a Classical Revival building at 1524 W. Linden St. in Allentown, Lehigh County, built from 1923 to 1925 by architect Richard G. Schmid. Its interior halls were finished in a range of period styles, including Italian and French Renaissance, Romanesque, Egyptian, Gothic and Doric.

Why it's listed

It was listed in the National Register in 2004 under criteria A and C, with local-level significance in social history and architecture, its period of significance running from 1923 to 1953 while it served as headquarters for the Allentown Freemasons.

Physical character

The walls are concrete, limestone, ceramic and brick, trimmed with limestone and terracotta, on a concrete foundation under a concrete roof. Fluted composite columns, a gambrel roof, an arched stained glass window, a ribbed vaulted ceiling and an entry porch survive from the original building, and in 1968 a vestibule with a canopy-covered stairwell was added connecting the rear of two structures.

Historical context

The Masonic Temple Association, chartered in 1916, awarded the architectural contract in 1921, and the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania laid the cornerstone in 1923. The building opened to the public for an inspection tour in 1926, and Trexler donated a Masonic research library to the lodges in 1928.