House of the Temple

Two historic Masonic buildings visited in two days...

Thursday April 24, 2008, I made another trip to the George Washington Masonic Memorial and Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22 for their regular meeting, which wasn't so regular, as it was their annual Charter Night, where the lodge was opened in the Colonial Replica Room, which is a copy of the original Alexandria Lodge that Bro. George Washington attended. Over 30 visitors were in attendance, many from Florida, one from Wyoming, and one from the U.K., which was nice to see a familiar looking apron style to mine! (If you're not aware, American Masons wear a different style of apron than Canadian and English brethren.)

On Friday April 25, 2008, I made a visit to the House of the Temple of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, U.S. Southern Jurisdiction, headquarters for the Supreme Council 33rd Degree. The building is located in basically a residential neighbourhood in the north downtown area of Washington, DC on 16th Street between S and R Streets. It faces West (for obvious reasons to any Mason).

The amazing part for me was the curved, multi-tiered library, which is entirely dedicated to Masonic and related philosophical works. Now I know why some say that Freemasonry is one of the most written about subjects ever. This library and its extensive collection is prove-positive of that. It's certainly a room that I could spend hours ... make that years, studying in.

Lots of photos... but they still do not do it justice...