Ridgewood Masonic Temple

1054 Bushwick Avenue | also 1122 Gates Avenue | Bushwick | built 1920

Open on the map4 entries

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

1. 1920

   Ridgewood Lodge No. 710 builds a temple to replace its leased meeting hall

   The lodge had met in leased quarters at Hart's Hall, 1028 Gates Avenue near Broadway, after moving at least four times in the late 1800s. As its membership grew with the surrounding neighborhood, it bought a corner lot at Bushwick and Gates Avenues and hired the architects Koch & Wagner. The lodge moved into the new building on Bushwick Avenue in 1920.

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

2. 1920

   July 17

   The cornerstone of the Ridgewood Masonic Temple is laid

   Plans for the lodge's new building went to the Department of Buildings in 1919, and the cornerstone was laid on July 17, 1920. Construction finished by the end of that year. For several decades afterward the building served as the headquarters and meeting rooms of Ridgewood Lodge.

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

3. 1920

   Koch & Wagner give the temple an Ionic portico, arched bays and terra-cotta Masonic symbols

   The freestanding brick building has a rusticated stone base and two-story arched bays holding multi-pane windows. Ionic columns frame the entry portico, and terra-cotta details include Masonic symbols and a cornice with egg-and-dart molding and dentils. The Landmarks Preservation Commission called it a remarkably intact example of early 20th-century neighborhood club architecture.

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

4. 2014

   July 22

   The city designates the Ridgewood Masonic Temple a landmark over the owner's objection

   At hearings on June 18 and October 29, 2013, a representative of the owner testified against designation, and the owner sent a letter rescinding the lodge's earlier request to have the building designated. Former Council Member Diana Reyna and Council Member Antonio Reynoso wrote letters of support. The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the temple on July 22, 2014.

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Nearby

• Peter P. and Rosa M. Huberty House1019 Bushwick Avenue | 7 entries
• Doering-Bohack House1090 Greene Avenue | 8 entries
• St. Barbara's Roman Catholic Church299 Central Avenue | 6 entries
• South Bushwick Reformed Church855 Bushwick Avenue | 8 entries
• Rugged Cross Baptist Church1084 Lafayette Avenue | 4 entries
• St. Augustine's Home for the Aged797 Bushwick Avenue | 5 entries

All 17 buildings with stories in Bushwick