The Scottish Rite Cathedral in Meridian, Mississippi is a former building that was listed on the United States

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 ...

. The building was designed in

Egyptian Revival 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 ...

style by prolific Meridian architect P.J. Krouse, who also designed

Meridian City Hall City Hall in Meridian, Mississippi in the United States is located at 601 24th Avenue. Originally designed by architect P.J. Krouse in 1915, the building underwent several renovations during the 1950s that diminished the historic quality of the bui ...

in 1915 and the 1906

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

building used by Congregation Beth Israel.

History

The site of the former building was originally the site of the Methodist Mississippi Female College (MFC), established in 1869 as the city's second oldest college (only surpassed by the Baptist MFC, established in 1865). The Methodist MFC was later converted into Beeson's College. The design of the Scottish Rite building was inspired by a trip to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

taken by Hyman W. Witcover, an architect from

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

. The architect was impressed by the Temple to

Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He wa ...

on the island of

Philae ; ar, فيلة; cop, ⲡⲓⲗⲁⲕ , alternate_name = , image = File:File, Asuán, Egipto, 2022-04-01, DD 93.jpg , alt = , caption = The temple of Isis from Philae at its current location on Agilkia Island in Lake Nasse ...

, now submerged due to the construction of the

Aswan Dam The Aswan Dam, or more specifically since the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. Its significance largely eclipsed the previous Aswan L ...

. Witcover designed a Scottish Rite Cathedral with the hope that it would one day be built by the Scottish Rite. Krouse revised and resubmitted the plans in 1914 and supervised construction, which was carried out by the Cass Construction Company, located in Georgia. The three-story building was built into the side of a hill so that the northern facade appeared only two stories tall with a basement. Circling the whole building was an Egyptian-style gorge-and-roll cornice. A central projecting section on the northern side of the building contained a recessed entrance supported by columns with

lotus flower ''Nelumbo nucifera'', also known as sacred lotus, Laxmi lotus, Indian lotus, or simply lotus, is one of two extant species of aquatic plant in the family Nelumbonaceae. It is sometimes colloquially called a water lily, though this more often re ...

capitals. A vulture and sundisk symbol was located in the entablature directly above the columns, and the front entrance was flanked by

sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...

es covered in polychromatic

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

and two

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...

s. Following destruction by fire on March 20, 1985, Attached is the original National Register of Historic Places nomination form for Scottish Rite Cathedral (#79003404), including one image (January 1979). the building was delisted from the National Register in 1987.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Former National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi Egyptian Revival architecture in the United States Former Masonic buildings in Mississippi Churches in Meridian, Mississippi National Register of Historic Places in Lauderdale County, Mississippi