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
Designed by the firm of
Burnham and Root and built at the corner of
Randolph 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, 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 currently stands on the former site of this building.
Both the building's primary designer,
John Wellborn Root, 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
See also
*
Early skyscrapers
The earliest stage of skyscraper design encompasses buildings built between 1884 and 1945, predominantly in the American cities of New York City, New York and Chicago. Cities in the United States were traditionally made up of low-rise buildings, ...
*
List of tallest buildings in Chicago
Chicago, the List of United States cities by population, third-largest city in the United States, is home to 1,397 completed high-rises, 56 of which stand taller than . The tallest building in the city is the 110-Storey, story Willi ...
Oriental Lodge #33 Ancient Free and Accepted Masons Chicago, IL
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