Part 723: Kansas City Scottish Rite, 1904, 1906 and 1909
In 1909, Sosman & Landis provided a second set of scenery for the Scottish Rite in Kansas City, Kansas. The history of the Kansas City Scottish Rite is a little confusing. There were two Kansas City Scottish Rites, one in Kansas and one in Missouri. This makes it difficult when tracking down information about either one, as the same newspapers often published information without specifying the state.
In 1904, Sosman & Landis delivered a first set of scenery to the Kansa City, Kansas, Scottish Rite (see past post 692). This was the same year that the company also produced Scottish Rite scenery for Fort Scott, Kansas. The first Kansas City, Kansas, Scottish Rite was designed by architect W. W. Rose, and located at the corner of 7th and Ann Street. On April 1, 1904, The Lincoln Journal included an article on the new building, however a description of the stage area and scenery was absent. It was intentionally concealed from the public for the event, closed off with a curtain. The article only noted that the stage was “thirty-two feet deep and thirty seven feet to the gridiron and has a full equipment of scenery and appointments including a switchboard, which controls every light in the room from the stage.” Unfortunately, the stage, auditorium and building all went up in flames only two years later.
During October 1906, the three-story building caught fire during a street fair. The Iola Daily Record reported that the Masonic Temple, its entire contents, two residences adjoining the block, and half of the booths at the street fair were destroyed by fire (October 20, 1906, page 1). The cause of the fire was the explosion of a gasoline stove in the booth occupied by the ladies of the Central Christian Church. The flames spread rapidly throughout the booths, and the Masonic Temple was the first building to suffer damage on the corner of Seventh Street and Ann Avenue. All efforts to save the structure proved futile. Among the losses were Scottish Rite paraphernalia and stage settings, valued at $50,000; their insurance only covered $16,000 of the loss (Kansas City Gazette. 27 Oct. 1906, page 1). Other newspapers reported the loss paraphernalia, furniture, fixtures and stage scenery, was valued $20,000 and only insured for $6,500 (Kansas City Gazette. 27 Oct 1909, page 1). Many other Masonic bodies in the building also lost uniforms, regalia, ritual and records, including Wyandotte Lodge No. 3, the oldest Masonic lodge in Kansas.
On October 27, 1906, the Kansas City Gazette reported “The Masons Will Rebuild.” The article quoted R. J. McFarland, general secretary of the Scottish Rite, who said, “We have definitely decided on a magnificent building to be erected on our property at Seventh and Ann at a cost of $10,000. As we depend entirely on our members it must be through them that we raise the amount necessary. We will hold a meeting Wednesday evening of all Scottish Rite bodies to discuss various plans regarding funding.” Grand Commander James D. Richardson and grand secretary Frederick W. Webber, or Washington, D.C. were in attendance at the meeting.
The Scottish Rite bodies approved plans for the new Masonic Temple on June 5, 1907. Again W. W. Rose designed the new four-story structure that included a sixty-foot frontage on Seventh street and a depth of 136 feet on Ann Avenue. The exterior of the building was noted as a mixture of “Hebrew and Arabic,” with the roof being supported by “Moorish pillars” (The Weekly News, 7 June 1907, page 1). The auditorium and stage were located on the second, third and fourth floors, with the fly loft rising to the roof. The large space included a forty-foot stage and balcony with a seating capacity of 800.
In 1909, the new Scottish Rite building was dedicated in Kansas City, Kansas. The Kansas City Times reported, “The Scottish Rite Temple in Kansas City, Kas., which cost $100,000, will be dedicated at 8 o’clock tonight. The ceremony will be performed by James D. Richardson, sovereign grand commander of the Scottish Rite Masonic bodies in the United States. This ceremony will close the twenty-third semi-annual reunion of the Rite in Kansas City, Kas. A class of 150 persons have taken degrees from the fourth to the thirty-second at this reunion” (19 Nov 1909, page 12). The Fall Reunion was the twenty-third for the Valley of Kansas, Orient of Kansas. On the first day of the reunion, Thomas Wentworth Harrison of Topeka, SGIG in Kansas was in attendance (Kansas City Times 18 Nov. 1909, page 1). On the second day of the reunion, the degrees of Victory Chapter Rose Croix were conferred on a class of seventy-five candidates. In the third day, the degrees from nineteen to thirty inclusive in John H. Brown Council Knight Kadosh were conferred to the candidates.
To be continued…
