{"nrhp_refnum":"07001012","name":"Smithfield Masonic Lodge","other_names":["Brooks Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"115 N. Second St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Smithfield","county":"Johnston County","state":"NC","lat":35.51449213600006,"lon":-78.34716308899993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2007-09-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Education","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame, temple-form Greek Revival lodge building at 115 North Second Street in Smithfield, Johnston County, North Carolina. It was built about 1854 by Friendship (Fellowship) Lodge No. 84 and moved to its present site around 1915.","why_significant":"The building is argued to be Smithfield's best mid-nineteenth-century Greek Revival building, with a pedimented three-bay facade, bracketed frieze, pilasters and an intact elliptical-vault Masonic hall. It is also significant for its use by the Smithfield Woman's Club, which ran the town's first public library from the second floor, linking it to the early twentieth-century public library movement.","narrative":"Built around 1854 by Masonic Lodge No. 84, this two-story frame building on North Second Street in Smithfield is a vernacular Greek Revival lodge. It has a pedimented gable front, a bracketed frieze, and corner pilasters on plinths. Inside, the second-floor ceremonial hall keeps its elliptical vaulted ceiling, and original pine floors and door and window trim survive. Around 1915 the building was moved to its present site by Judge F.H. Brooks, who altered the entrances and stairs and used the first floor as a law office. From 1917 to 1933 the Smithfield Woman's Club met upstairs and operated the town's first free public library there. The Masons stayed until 1940. Later changes in the 1960s were removed during a 2006 rehabilitation that restored the exterior and the second-floor plan. It was listed as Smithfield's best mid-nineteenth-century Greek Revival building and for its role in social history and education.","period_of_significance":"c. 1854; c. 1917 to 1933","architect_builder":"unknown","architectural_style":"Mid-Nineteenth Century/Greek Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Rehabilitated in 2006 after being donated to the Downtown Smithfield Development Corporation in 2004; the form lists current function as work in progress.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:53.714064-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/88/7209/47720988/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/07001012.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001012/55151e3987-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001012/55151e3987-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Ammodramus","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smithfield,_North_Carolina_former_Masonic_lodge_1.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Ammodramus</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smithfield,_North_Carolina_former_Masonic_lodge_1.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"00000550","name":"North Smithfield Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/north-smithfield-historic-district-00000550/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47720988","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithfield_Masonic_Lodge","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23073729"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/johnston-county/smithfield-masonic-lodge-07001012/"}