Sandusky’s Masonic Temple

In the picture above, hundreds of people have gathered for the laying of the cornerstone for the Masonic Temple, located at 302 Wayne Street, on June 24, 1889. Ellie Damm wrote in Treasure by the Bay that Sandusky’s Masonic building was made of buff sandstone and blue limestone, and built in the Second Romanesque-Revival style. H.C. Lindsay of Zanesville was the architect, and Adam Feick and Brothers were the builders.

The Science Lodge No. 50 F & AM was established in Sandusky in 1818. The first master of the lodge, Hector Kilbourne, platted the city of Sandusky in the pattern of the Masonic emblem. Former museum curator Helen Hansen holds a copy of the original plat map in this image.

In 1940, the Sandusky Chamber of Commerce had its offices in the street level of the Masonic Temple.

A fire damaged the roof and top floors of the Masonic Temple in January of 1943.

A view of the Sanduksy Masonic Temple in 1983 shows how the building was redesigned after the fire, with changes to the roof and removal of two towers:

Sandusky physician Dr. Charles Hope Merz was an outstanding Masonic scholar who wrote several Masonic books, and served as editor of the Masonic Bulletin in Sandusky for nearly twenty eight years. Guild Masonry in the Making, by Dr. Merz, is available full text at Google Books. Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view several copies of The Sandusky Masonic Bulletin from the 1930’s and 1940’s.