The Masonic Temple Building, later known as the Capitol Building, was a

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

built in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

in 1892, and from 1895 to the 1920s the tallest building in Chicago.

History

Burnham and Root Burnham and Root was one of Chicago's most famous architectural companies of the nineteenth century. It was established by Daniel Hudson Burnham and John Wellborn Root. During their eighteen years of partnership, Burnham and Root designed and ...

and built at the corner of

Randolph Randolph may refer to: Places In the United States * Randolph, Alabama, an unincorporated community * Randolph, Arizona, a populated place * Randolph, California, a village merged into the city of Brea * Randolph, Illinois, an unincorporated com ...

and State Streets, the building rose 21 stories. When the clock tower was removed from the 1885 Board of Trade Building in 1895, the Masonic Temple became the tallest in the city. The building was owned by Oriental Lodge #33 which still meets to this day. The building featured a central court ringed by nine floors of shops with offices above and meeting rooms for the Masons at the very top. These meeting rooms also served as theaters, which contributed to the building's obsolescence; its elevators proved inadequate for these crowds, and the building rapidly fell from favor with commercial tenants. Chicago's building height regulations enacted in 1892 (the year the Temple was built), didn't allow taller buildings, until that was amended in the 1920s. In 1939 the Masonic Temple was demolished, in part due to its poor internal services, but also due to the construction of the new

State Street subway The State Street subway is an underground section of the Chicago "L" system, carrying the Red Line through the Chicago Loop. The subway is long, running underneath Clybourn Avenue, Division Street, and State Street. Red Line trains run throug ...

, which would have necessitated expensive foundation retrofitting. Also, in 1926 the New Masonic Building had opened nearby. A two-story "

taxpayer A taxpayer is a person or organization (such as a company) subject to pay a tax. Modern taxpayers may have an identification number, a reference number issued by a government to citizens or firms. The term "taxpayer" generally characterizes o ...

" housing a

Walgreens Walgreens is an American pharmacy store chain. It is the second largest in the United States, behind CVS Pharmacy. As of March 2025, the company operated more than 8,700 stores in the U.S. Walgreens has been the subject of a number of lawsuit ...

drug store was erected in its place, and the

Joffrey Tower The Joffrey Tower is a high-rise commercial real estate development on the northeast corner of North State Street and East Randolph Street in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States that is the permanent hom ...

currently stands on the former site of this building. Both the building's primary designer,

John Wellborn Root John Wellborn Root (January 10, 1850 – January 15, 1891) was an American architect who was based in Chicago with Daniel Burnham. He was one of the founders of the Chicago School style. Two of his buildings have been designated National Hist ...

, and the Masons' primary representative, Norman Gassette, died of natural causes during its construction.

Gallery

File:Knackstedt & Näther Stereoskopie 0530 Chicago. Freimaurerhaus. Bildseite Masonic Temple (Chicago, Illinois), um 1900.jpg, About 1900:

Stereoscopy Stereoscopy, also called stereoscopics or stereo imaging, is a technique for creating or enhancing the depth perception, illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any ster ...

as postcard No. 530 by (

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

) File:Masonic Temple (Chicago).jpg, Masonic Temple, 1900 File:Later Masonic Temple with new Marshall Field Building.jpg, Masonic Temple with new

Marshall Field and Company Building The Marshall Field and Company Building is a department store building and National Historic Landmark on State Street (Chicago), State Street in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It was designed in the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts and C ...

, 1911

References

External links

– ''Scientific American'', February 10, 1894. {{Buildings in Chicago timeline Skyscraper office buildings in Chicago Burnham and Root buildings Former Masonic buildings in Illinois Former skyscrapers Former buildings and structures in Chicago Masonic buildings completed in 1892 Buildings and structures demolished in 1939 1939 disestablishments in Illinois Demolished buildings and structures in Chicago Chicago school architecture in Illinois 1892 establishments in Illinois

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links