The Handley Masonic Lodge building is one of five lodges completed in Fort Worth during the 1920s. It was the home of the Handley Masonic Lodge #1140, A.F. and A.M. from 1928 to 1974. The Masons played an important role in Fort Worth’s history dating from the 1860s. They arranged for the construction of the Masonic Home and School, a 212-acre site located on Wichita Street, which was caring for more than 400 children by the 1930s.
The Handley Masons moved to a new meeting location in 1974, and the building then served as a meeting place for the Independent Order of the Odd Fellows, Polytechnic Lodge #148 beginning in 1977. It is now used as a meeting place for a variety of Handley groups.
The building’s façade is patterned orange-red brick in a narrow rectangular floor plan. A front gable with simple ornamentation featuring a central round arched opening is flanked by round arched window openings (later altered) of Romanesque inspiration. Brick buttresses topped by cast stone flank the main entrance.
Text provided by Daniel Haase.
Architectural Style:
Eclectic
Category:
Lodge/Meeting Hall