Property Record
117-119 S MAIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | OREGON MASONIC LODGE |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 5724 |
| Location (Address): | 117-119 S MAIN ST |
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| County: | Dane |
| City: | Oregon |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
| Section: | |
| Quarter Section: | |
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| Year Built: | 1898 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1979 |
| Historic Use: | social recreational/fraternal hall |
| Architectural Style: | Queen Anne |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Cream Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Oregon Masonic Lodge |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 6/18/1992 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 5/6/1992 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. The construction of this lodge building coincided with the golden age of Freemasonry in Wisconsin. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, fraternal lodges included among their members the businessmen and professionals who made up the local elite. Membership in certain lodges helped establish a man's status, and some, such as the Masons’, were more prestigious than others, in part because here community leaders made business deals and forged political alliances. After a fire destroyed the hall used by several of Oregon’s fraternal organizations, the Masons erected this exuberant cream-and red-brick building, which also served the Order of the Eastern Star, the Knights of Pythias, and the Women’s' Relief Corps. Above the second-story windows, the Masonic emblem of compass and square appears at the center of a red sandstone medallion framed in red brick. Fine details, including the red-brick arcade at the roof parapet and the pointed ogee-arched window heads, lend an eclectic Romanesque and Moorish flavor to this vernacular commercial facade. The building retains its original, cast-iron storefront, where the Prichard and Cusick hardware store displayed its wares. The interior, too, has kept its historic appearance, including its pressed-metal ceiling embellished with garlands and geometric motifs. POLYCHROME BRICKWORK. ARCHED WINDOWS W/KEYSTONES. ORIGINAL IRON FRONT. MASONIC DEVICE ON FRONT. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Wisconsin State Journal, 8/21/1994, p. 5J. “Architecture/History Survey. WHS project number 08-0176/DA. 2007. Prepared by Carol Lohry Cartwright. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |