Benjamin Franklin Lodge #83, Madison, WI

On May 1 I had the pleasure of touring the Detroit Masonic Temple, the largest Masonic building in the world. Though something of a faded rose in the midst of abandoned buildings and run down parking lots, it is still a gem and well worth the visit. The Detroit Masonic Temple was completed in 1927, just before the Great Depression. It was designed by architect George Mason who appears as one of the gargoyles above the main entrance way. Regrettably, many rooms were too dark to photograph and I did not get to tour the Egyptian Room and library on this visit.

The temple remains an impressive building with more than 1,000 rooms – including two beautiful auditoriums and ballrooms and maybe still the world’s largest floating floor (it now plays host to the Detroit Derby Girls roller derby matches, though was formerly used for Detroit's famous Commandry's drill practices). At one time, there were 35 lodges based in this building together with the several York Rite Bodies, the Valley of Detroit, A.A. Scottish Rite, N.M.J. (the national headquarters of which once operated from the building), and the Shrine, which constructed a later addition to the temple to house its meetings and functions. Today only 8 lodges and the York Rite bodies are left, the the Scottish Rite and Shrine are gone, and the venue used for traveling Broadway musical productions, concerts, business conferences, sporting events, and weddings. It costs $7 to tour the building.