Part 696: The San Francisco Scottish Rite, Feb. 6, 1905 – April 18, 1906
The cornerstone for the Albert Pike Memorial Temple in San Francisco was laid on July 9, 1904 by the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge, F. and A.M. of California. The name causes a slight problem, as nearly two decades later an Albert Pike Memorial Temple would be built in Little Rock, Arkansas. In Little Rock, the Scottish Rite Masons left their previous home in the 1902 the Albert Pike Consistory Building to join other Little Rock Masonic orders at the Albert Pike Memorial Temple.
The San Francisco Scottish Rite’s Albert Pike Memorial Temple was located at 1859 Geary Street in San Francisco, between Steiner and Filmore Streets, the building occupied a 86 feet by 137 feet lot. On February 6th, 1905, the new home of California Scottish Rite bodies was dedicated and a Scottish Rite Reunion commenced..
Fred J. H. Rickon was the president of the Albert Pike Memorial Temple Association, a group that consisted of some of the most prominent Masons in San Francisco. Other memebers were Frank B. Ladd, William Crocker, W. I. Brobeck and W. C. Ordway. Bestor G. Brown, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Kansas and western sales manager for M. C. Lilley & Co., not only outfitted the new theater with scenery, stage machinery, lighting and costumes, but also “made the presentation speech, paying a graceful tribute to the energy of local fraters” (San Francisco Call, 7 Feb 1905, page 2). Other than the costumes, the theater’s scenery, stage machinery, and lighting were subcontracted to Sosman & Landis of Chicago, Illinois.
In “The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Free-Masonry Transactions of the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America” from 1905, there was a report from W. Frank Pierce, Sovereign Grand Inspector General, Valley of San Francisco. He stated:
“Only one reunion has been held in this jurisdiction, This one was at the dedication of the Albert Pike Memorial Temple, San Francisco, and held for the purpose of allowing the brethren from various parts of the State to witness the conferring of all degrees in a temple equipped with the most modern paraphernalia and stage fittings to present their dramatic part of the work.”
On February 6, 1905, the San Francisco Call included the article “Albert Pike Memorial to be Dedicated.” The article reported, “On this occasion the degrees will be conferred with full scenic effects and historically correct paraphernalia for the first time in California. Over $100,000 has been invested in this magnificent structure, of which fully $25,000 is in scenery and costume alone. It is anticipated that many of the craft from all over the State will take advantage of this occasion to receive these degrees, and it is thought that many prominent and distinguished visitors from other jurisdictions will grace the meeting with their presence” (“Albert Pike Memorial to be Dedicated.” 11 Dec. 1904, page 50).
Like many buildings in San Francisco, the Albert Pike Memorial Temple was destroyed during the fire that followed the 1906 earthquake on April 18. By April 22, 1906, the San Francisco Chronicle described the Masonic ruins after the fire: “On Geary street between Filmore and Steiner, two large, new, partly constructed brick and stone buildings, one the Albert Pike Memorial Temple and the other the Congregation Beth Israel Church, both practically collapsed, the roofs falling in. Not far away, on Sutter and Steiner streets, a large new building being constructed for the Golden Gate Commandery of the Scottish Rite fell with a crash” (page 6).
To be continued…
