The Fort Smith Masonic Temple is a historic building at 200 North 11th Street in

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the third-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

. It is a large stone-walled structure, with styling that is an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

-influenced version of

Egyptian Revival architecture Egyptian Revival is an architectural style that uses the motifs and imagery of ancient Egypt. It is attributed generally to the public awareness of ancient Egyptian monuments generated by Napoleon's conquest of Egypt and Admiral Nelson's defeat o ...

. Its main (northwest-facing) facade has a projecting central section, from which a series of bays are progressively stepped back, unified by a band of decorative carving at the top, just below the flat roof. The central portion has slightly-projecting pilaster-like sections flanking three recessed bays, which are divided by two fluted pilasters and topped by decorative carved stonework and a panel identifying the building. The entrance is set in the center bay, recessed under a projecting square frame. The building was designed by

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

architect

George R. Mann George Richard Mann (July 12, 1856 – March 20, 1939) was an American architect, trained at MIT, whose designs included the Arkansas State Capitol. He was the leading architect in Arkansas from 1900 until 1930, and his designs were among the fi ...

and completed in 1929. It is one of the few buildings in Arkansas to exhibit Egyptian Revival styling, which is particularly pronounced in the building's interior decoration. The building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1992. Since 2017. It has become a concert venue called "Temple Live" and can seat 1,100 people. In 2019, the temple has branched to two other locations, one in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

and the other in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. File:Fort Smith Masonic Temple, Sphinx, Front View.JPG, The sphinx at the masonic temple File:Fort Smith Masonic Temple, Theater Entrance -South View.JPG, Masonic temple theatre entrance File:Fort Smith Masonic Temple, Carved Wall Detail, West View.JPG, Carved wall at the masonic temple

References

Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas Buildings and structures in Fort Smith, Arkansas Masonic buildings in Arkansas Art Deco architecture in Arkansas National Register of Historic Places in Sebastian County, Arkansas Egyptian Revival architecture in Arkansas 1929 establishments in Arkansas Cultural infrastructure completed in 1929 {{SebastianCountyAR-NRHP-stub

See also

References