Masonic Temple

The Masonic Temple is the church-like structure one sees on the northeast corner of North Broad Street across the street from City Hall.  Though dedicated in 1873, the interior decoration took an additional 30 years.  Each lodge room has its own style of architecture carried out with extreme Victorian exuberance for ornament.  This is probably the ultimate Victorian building in terms of historical revival styles including Gothic, Norman, Egyptian, Greek, Renaissance, and Arabic.  Tours of the building have been offered to the public since its opening.  A fee is now charged to help offset the great expense of maintaining the structure.  An extensive restoration of the exterior was completed in 2008.