{"nrhp_refnum":"82003446","name":"Masonic Temple Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"203 S. Washington St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Shelby","county":"Cleveland County","state":"NC","lat":35.281669677000025,"lon":-81.53807671799996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-07-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story buff brick Masonic temple at 203 S. Washington Street, at the corner of E. Warren Street, in downtown Shelby, Cleveland County, North Carolina. It was built in 1924-25 for the Cleveland Lodge by the Charlotte firm J. P. Little and Son.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it western North Carolina's most sophisticated example of Egyptian Revival architecture, with massive winged sun disk lintels, lotiform pillars and an ornamented frieze. It has also housed the Cleveland Lodge since 1925, whose members included governors O. Max Gardner and Clyde R. Hoey. At four stories it was Shelby's tallest building and had the town's first electric passenger elevator.","narrative":"Rising four stories at the corner of South Washington and East Warren streets in downtown Shelby, this Masonic temple was built in 1924-25 for the Cleveland Lodge, which was chartered in 1858. The Charlotte firm J. P. Little and Son constructed it for about $100,000. Buff brick walls, massive concrete lintels carved with winged sun disks and serpents, lotus-capital pillars at the main entrance and a leaf-and-disk frieze make it western North Carolina's most sophisticated example of Egyptian Revival design. When finished it was the tallest building in Shelby and held the town's first electric passenger elevator. The fourth floor holds the lodge meeting room, while lower floors have hosted stores, law and dental offices and the county health department. Ground-floor changes in 1957 did not alter its overall appearance. The building is also tied to lodge members who became governors, Clyde R. Hoey and O. Max Gardner.","period_of_significance":"1925","architect_builder":"J. P. Little and Son, Charlotte (Builder)","architectural_style":"Egyptian Revival","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Occupied and in good condition; the Cleveland Lodge continues to meet there, and the ground floor was altered in 1957. The building was recently sold to the Historic Preservation Fund of North Carolina, which hoped to resell it to a buyer who would rehabilitate it.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:58.408713-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/70/7196/47719670/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/82003446.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003446/e0ee9d95c3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003446/e0ee9d95c3-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"OptimumPx","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Masonic_Temple_Building_-_Shelby_NC.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">OptimumPx</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Masonic_Temple_Building_-_Shelby_NC.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719670","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonic_Temple_Building_(Shelby,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6783784"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/cleveland-county/masonic-temple-building-82003446/"}