A Bygone Era

This building on the corner of the busiest intersection on Hawthorne (One Street) is a former Masonic Lodge, built in 1919. Sunnyside Masonic Lodge #163 was home to the Masons until 1996 when, because of dwindling membership, they moved to a smaller location and sold the building. There's a very thorough history of this lodge on this website. Look under About Us and Lodge History if you're interested.

I've been curious about this plaque on the front of the building -- today I discovered that AF & AM is "Ancient Free and Accepted Masons" and MWGM, who laid the stone, is the (Most Worshipful) Grand Master. The cornerstone also contains a copper box holding "various items related to the Masonic tradition."

The Masonic Lodges, at the zenith of their influence, ranked among the prominent buildings of many cities, rivaling the dimensions and splendor of the finest civic and commercial buildings of a given community. At that time, by definition, "a lodge is an assemblage of Freemasons and duly congregated having the sacred square and compass, and a character or warrant of constitution authorizing them to work. The room or place in which they meet representing some part of King Solomon's Temple, is also called the lodge...." Previous to the first structure familiarly known as the Masonic Temple, the meetings of the Order had been held in Alehouses in England and in the taverns or inns of Colonial America.

I find the history of Masons fascinating; their origins in medieval times, their secrets and their somewhat diverse membership (though if you're an Atheist or a woman, you are decidedly not welcomed!), their traditions and icons. It's not surprising that their membership has fallen off in the last few decades; they haven't exactly kept up with the times.

Today the building houses a restaurant and The Hawthorne Theater, a club for young people. The bands that are booked here would probably make the old Masons roll over in their well-constructed tombs: Guillotine Necktie, Hell's Parish, Soul Asylum, Dead Animal Assembly Plant, to name a few.