When the Scottish Rite Masons set out to build a new building in the 1920s, they dreamt big. They hired the nationally prominent architect John Russell Pope as a consultant (Pope designed the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Baltimore Museum of Art around the corner) and the ground breaking ceremony on May 1, 1930 included officiating with the gavel used by President George Washington at the Masonic groundbreaking of the U.S. Capitol building. The Italian Renaissance temple at the corner of Charles and 39th Streets includes an exterior of Indiana limestone with 10 columns 34 feet high, solid bronze doors that measure 14 by 18 feet, and an interior with gray marble wainscot and a black marble base. The Great Depression that had begun six months before unfortunately put a crimp on some of the grandest plans, but the 1100-seat auditorium that sits under a 60-ft. domed ceiling still could boast to be the largest auditorium south of New York when it was built. Please join us on a tour of the building and its Masonic elements.