"House of the Temple"
Home of The Supreme Council, 33°,
Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction,
Washington D.C., USA
This a front view at dusk.
Above the beautiful bronze door entrance reads, "Freemasonry Builds its
Temples in the Hearts of Men and among Nations"
This photo depicts the Temple
Chamber, square with beveled corners, is surrounded in the crown molding by
the words, "From the outer darkness of ignorance through the shadows of our
earth life winds the beautiful path of initiation unto the divine light of the
holy altar."
One hundred and ten years to the day (May
31, 1911) after the founding of the Supreme Council, Grand Commander James D.
Richardson broke ground on the spot where the House of the Temple now stands
in our nation's capitol. Grand Master J. Claude Keiper, of the Grand
Lodge of the District of Colombia, laid the cornerstone in the northeast
corner two days after the opening of the biennial session (October 18, 1911).
The House of the Temple was designed by John
Russell Pope who based its design upon the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
(See Below), one of
the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Dedication of the building
occurred October 18, 1915, exactly four years after the cornerstone was laid.
The Supreme Council maintains a website at the
link below where you can take a virtual tour of this most magnificent Masonic
monument.
http://www.srmason-sj.org/web/index.htm
Photos ©Maxwell MacKenzie,
Washington, D.C.
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
(Circa 352
BC)
