Avondale Masonic Temple
The Avondale Masonic Temple is a two-story building on the northeast corner of 41st Street and 2nd Avenue South in Avondale's commercial district. It was constructed in 1909 by the Avondale Lodge No. 476 Free & Accepted Masons. It was designed by architect David O. Whillden and built for $6,000.
It was designed to be shared with a ground floor retail tenant, originally the Avondale Station Post Office. Two prominent semi-circular limestone arched doorways on the front facade flanked a large show window. The right-hand archway, for the ground floor, led to a door recess that could also be entered from the 2nd Avenue side. The left-hand arch, with a carved masonic compass, accessed a stairway to the meeting room above.
The lodge's meeting room also featured large glazed openings, tied together at the top with a soldier course of brick set in relief. The Lodge's designation was set into a framed panel under a shallow false gable in the roof pediment. A cornerstone adjacent to the lodge door indicates the stamp of Grand Master H. S. D. Mallory.
The temple was also used by the Avondale Chapter No. 156 Royal Arch Masons, Electa Chapter No. 16, Order of the Eastern Star, and the Order of Railway Conductors No. 677.
In 1999 the building was sold to the Beloved Community Church.
References
- Shelby, Thomas Mark (2009) D. O. Whilldin: Alabama Architect. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society ISBN 0943994330