Masonic Temple Then and Now

First and Virginia Streets – Reno, Nevada

Myron C Lake, who was not a good guy, obtained Fuller’s Crossing from Charles W Fuller via trade in 1861. This land included a timber bridge crossing the Truckee River and a hotel on the south bank called Fuller House. Lake rebuilt the bridge in 1862 after it was destroyed in a flood and finagled a way to make it a toll bridge.

He continued acquiring property and the parcels on either side of Virginia Street just north of the river became known as Lake’s Reserve. A toll house stood at the north end of Lake’s Bridge on the west side of the road.

S. W. Kimball purchased the property where the toll house stood in November of 1876. He constructed a wood frame foundry and machine shop which began right at the end of the bridge and ran lengthwise along Virginia Street.

The roof was raised in the Spring of 1877 to accommodate a dance hall on the second floor. Exterior stairs at the north end led to a ticket office which patrons passed through to access the hall.

Amity Lodge No. 8 Knights of Pythias held their grand ball in Kimball’s Hall on April 10, 1877.

W. T. Remington relocated his blacksmith shop to Kimball’s building in June of 1878.

The 1885 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows the building positioned between two irrigation ditches. You can click on the image to see the full sheet.

George Graves and Fred Holmes took possession of the building in September of 1888 and transformed it into the Iron Bridge Livery Stable.

By the time this photo was taken around 1890, the red stable building was already missing a porch support.

Graves sold the stable to Abe Scott in December of 1899 and it changed hands a few times before being operated by A. M. Campbell in about December of 1903. Around that time, Reno Lodge No. 13 Free and Accepted Masons bought the property. By 1905, the building was so dilapidated the lodge refused to renew the lease.

Instead, they announced plans to build a new temple on the site that January. The property was deeded to the newly formed Reno Masonic Temple Association for $10,000 in March of 1905. The existing temple was put up for sale at that time but the area lodges continued using it until the new building was ready.

Architect Henry F Starbuck of Long Beach, California was hired to design the new temple, which would have 140 feet of frontage along Virginia Street. The ground floor would accommodate five storerooms. Nine offices plus the Blue Lodge room would be located on the second floor. The third floor would hold another lodge room, a chapel with anterooms, lockers for all of the Knights Templar regalia, and a banquet room.

In May of 1905, workers began diverting a ditch crossing the south part of the property which ultimately went under part of the building. The granite corner stone was installed at the northeast corner of the building along with a time capsule on September 16, 1905. Members of various masonic organizations came from lodges all over the state. The ceremony, reportedly with a thousand people in attendance, took place after a procession of around 200 marched from the old temple to the new site in full regalia.

After requiring a rebid due to high costs, the building contract was finally awarded to W. G. McGinty on September 19, 1905. Construction took a full year to complete.

M. F. Goodwin and Company’s millinery store opened for business on Monday, September 10, 1906. Their grand opening was held the following Saturday.

The Wiley B Allen Company music store moved to the new temple that October.

W. P. Baker and W. R. Toombs opened their men’s store on October 20, 1906. No merchandise was sold at the formal event, which was planned as a social gathering with a musical program.

Nixon National Bank, of which Senator George S Nixon was rumored to be a mere figurehead, opened on the main floor November 12.

The Dalton, Clifford & Wilson Company drug store opened December 1. N. E. Wilson was Mayor of Reno at the time.

The first meeting in the new temple appears to have been held on December 8, 1906.

Office spaces were rented by Dignowity Exploration and Exploitation Company, Great Updyke Mining Company, Ramsey Consolidated, Reno-Mispah Mining Company, and Dr. Robert O’Neal.

The new temple was officially dedicated on St. John’s Day, December 27, 1906, with hundreds in attendance. Every masonic organization in Nevada had a representative present and there were many attendees from outside the state as well.

Drs. William L Samuels and J. LaRue Robinson are shown here around 1912 in Dr. Robinson’s office, which I believe was located in Room 10.

It was very common for masonic lodges and temples to have very high ceilings in the top floor ceremonial rooms as seen in this postcard. They were often decorated with opulent handstitched carpets and elaborate ceiling and wall treatments.

Tenants came and went over the decades. Nevada Bank of Commerce began moving to the building in the Summer of 1946. The main floor housed the lobby plus the coin and safety deposit vault while the trust department, bookkeeping, restrooms, conference rooms, transit department, and a customer storage vault were located in the basement. NBC officially opened November 12, 1946 and they planned to double their square footage the following year.

The bank took over the space formerly occupied by the Grey Shop around June of 1947 and interior work was completed by the end of the year.

At the same time, the temple association hired Salt Lake City architect A. B. Paulson to design an expanded modern exterior which eliminated the huge granite columns and boasted loads of plate glass. That building permit was finally issued in September of 1948 and work continued for several months.

In 1953, the temple association accepted plans created by architect Russell Mills for a four-story annex to be constructed on the west side of the temple. This annex was completed in the Spring of 1955.

Nevada Bank of Commerce relocated its trust department and some additional staff to the annex but the main part of the bank remained in the old temple.

A large section of the temple, including the bank, was destroyed by fire on August 15, 1965. The blaze was prevented from entering the annex but it did receive some smoke and water damage.

Two lodge rooms were condemned. Some retail stores were able to reopen by August 18 but the bank had to operate from its other branches. Gene Christensen’s photo studio above the bank was completely destroyed.

The temple association preferred to repair the building but since about 40 percent had been damaged, they decided a replacement was in order. To avoid disrupting Christmas sales for the remaining retail tenants, demolition was postponed until January of 1966.

NBC was able to reopen their main floor branch on February 20, 1967, before upper floor interiors were finished. The new corner stone was installed at a dedication ceremony on April 9.

Menards Ltd. reopened on April 13.

The jewelry store of R. Herz and Bro. reopened on June 1. Wilton Herz and his father, Frederick Herz, are shown below.

I should note the building had been designed so additional floors could be added for a total of eight. Clearly, that expansion never materialized.

This is how the Masonic Temple at the site of Fuller’s Crossing looks today:

The building on the corner is currently home to Brüka Theatre and Antique Angel Wedding Chapel with offices and lodge spaces on the upper floors. I liked the first structure better but this one looks appropriate in its surroundings. With so many lodge and temple buildings sitting vacant across the county, Reno is fortunate to have this one occupied and put to good use.

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