Copyright © 2021 by Wendy Waszut-Barrett
I return to the life and times of Thomas G. Moses after a four-week break.
In 1922 Thomas G. Moses wrote, “… got a train for Davenport, Iowa. Some fine daylight ride. Met Lester Landis and we set our model up for the Scottish Rite Bodies. No chance to close for some time.” Work had started on the building during the spring of 1921 and was completed in the fall of 1923. The old Masonic temple that housed the Davenport Scottish Rite was located on the corner of Third and Main Streets, built in 1886.
Moses was representing Sosman & Landis Studio, whereas Toomey & Volland delivered the first Scottish Rite scenery to Davenport. In fact, a Toomey & Volland advertisement in “New Age Magazine,” listed the Davenport as one of sixteen Scottish Rites theaters using Toomey & Volland scenery by 1912.
By the spring of 1922, the foundation for the new Masonic Temple was completed, just in time for the Scottish Rite Reunion. There were nearly one-hundred candidates in the Cornerstone-Stone Class, named in recognition of the progress on the new temple. Six months later, the four-day fall reunion with the Zerubbabel Class was also very large. On Jan. 1, 1923, the membership strength of Zarephath consistory was 2,383. The building was dedicated during the fall reunion of 1923.
Moses wrote, “Made several trips to Davenport in hopes of getting the big contract of about $16,000.00, but we were too high.” It was a massive endeavor with scenery for two stages.
The main auditorium was located on the second floor. With a seating capacity of 2,700, it featured a pipe organ and motion picture booth. The main theater was not only intended for public entertainment but also Masonic ceremonial for the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine and the Mystic Order of the Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm (Grotto). There was also a smaller theater on the main floor, known as the Gothic Room. This secondary stage hosted ceremonials for the York Rite and Order of the Eastern Star.
The new Masonic Temple was completed by the fall of 1923. When the building opened, the “Daily Times” announced, “Davenport’s new million-dollar Masonic temple is a monument to the faith and perseverance of a group of Davenport Masons who long ago conceived the idea of sheltering all of the local Masonic lodges and clubs in one large building. It has always been the hope of Davenport Masons that this city should eventually have one of the most beautiful temples in the state, representative of the prominent position occupied by Davenport in Iowa Masonry. More than 10 years ago progressive members of the various lodges began to study out plans whereby their ideal might be worked out, and October 1913, the first committees are said to have been named to consider the project and to report upon its possibilities. Strange enough, the earliest committees on the new temple project agreed upon the site at Seventh and Brady streets as one of the most ideal locations in the city for the new temple. Today the Masons are dedicating their new temple…The temple together with its site cost approximately $1,040,000 and this amount has been raised through subscription by the members of all the Masonic bodies of Davenport, in the form of stock in the New Masonic Temple association” (Nov. 19, 1923, page 9).
On Nov. 19, 1923, “The Daily Times” included a series of articles about the new building. Of the theater, the newspaper reported, “The new Masonic temple has the finest auditorium in the tri-cities and offers exceptional facilities for public concert work and other forms of entertainment. The auditorium is built in the amphitheater style and is illuminated by the largest indirect lighting fixture in the United States……As an auditorium devoted to music and the art of dancing, the Masonic temple will in a large measure take the place of Davenport’s lost ‘legitimate’ theater.”
William J. Klinck was manager for the main auditorium. Of the new theater, Klinck reported, “We have gone to a great deal of additional expense to equip the stage for practical show purposes. Of course, there are over a hundred sets of stuff for the Masonic work alone, but aside from this, we will be able to accommodate any stage attraction, no matter how large. We are not planning any theatrical attractions this season, but for next year I am trying to line up Al Jolson, the Passing Show, the Greenwich Village Follies, the Barrymores and many other high-class attractions. We will have nothing whatever to do with mediocre shows and will not even listen to any proposition that does not include the binging here of performers regarded as real stars.”
To be continued…
