The Masonic Temple is a historic building located in

Stuart, Iowa Stuart is a city in Lincoln Township, Adair County, and in Stuart Township, Guthrie County, in the U.S. state of Iowa. That part of the city within Guthrie County is part of the Des Moines–West Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area. ...

, United States. The

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

architectural firm of Merrill and Smith designed the building in a combination of the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

and the

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...

styles. with The Romanesque Revival influence is found in the use of round-arched windows on the upper floors and the main entry on the first floor. The Colonial Revival influence is found in the clock tower, the stepped roof

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

, and the multi-pane transoms above the second-floor windows. The

Masons Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutt ...

built the structure in 1894. Originally the first floor housed commercial space, with professional offices on the second floor and Masonic Order occupied the third and fourth floors. The Masons sold the building in 1970. The first floor continues to house retail space and residential apartments are located on the upper floors. 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 1996.

References

External links

*Clock renovation TV broadcast, April 201
Clock repair
Masonic buildings completed in 1894 Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Colonial Revival architecture in Iowa Buildings and structures in Guthrie County, Iowa Former Masonic buildings in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Guthrie County, Iowa {{Iowa-struct-stub