Masonic Temple

Completed two years after construction started on City Hall, this Masonic Temple has a Norman-style exterior, and a variety of other styles in the large, extravagant rooms inside. At the time of its construction, the Philadelphia-area Mason Lodge Number Two’s membership was mostly rich or well-off, powerful white men. However, it began as a mason’s labor union in 1758, one of the first in the then-British colony.

Photo of the Masonic Temple from across Penn Square, sometime between 1871 and 1909

By the late 1700’s, rich men (most without masonry skills) had completely taken over the membership. These usurping members were drawn to the opportunities the lodge provided to network and talk about ideals and ideas that weren’t based in Christianity. Among these men were founding fathers Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, memorialized in front of the temple in bronze.

Lithograph of the Masonic Temple, sometime between 1873 and 1880

This is a building full of beauty and history, and it is open to the public. Free guided tours of the Masonic Temple are typically available Wednesday-Saturday from 11:00-15:00; you can schedule a tour online or walk in 10 minutes before the hourly tours begin. Please note that there is no 12:00 tour.

Commemorative lithograph of the grand lodge room, 1855

Citations

Guided Tour Tickets. The Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania. Accessed April 22, 2024. https://pamasonictemple.org/guided-tour-tickets/.

Huhn, Erich M. Freemasonry. The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. April 12, 2017. https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/freemasonry/.

Masonic Temple of Philadelphia. Atlas Obscura. July 4, 2010. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/masonic-temple-philadelphia-dt.

Rosenthal, Max. Grand Lodge Room of the New Masonic Hall. Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. Chromolithograph. Library of Congress. https://lccn.loc.gov/2021670381.

Wiedemann, G. A. City Hall Square. Photograph. Captured sometime between 1871 and 1909. Temple Digital Collections. https://digital.library.temple.edu/digital/collection/p15037coll3/id/39446/rec/24.

Welcome to Lodge No. 2. Lodge No. 2 - Free & Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania. December 11, 2023. https://lodgetwo.org/.

Wynkoop, John J. Masonic Temple. Lithograph. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2003689300/.