{"nrhp_refnum":"84002533","name":"Masonic Temple Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"427 S. Blount St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Raleigh","county":"Wake County","state":"NC","lat":35.774299176000056,"lon":-78.63652144399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-05-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story, flat-roofed, wood-frame building with brick veneer at 427 South Blount Street (northeast corner of Blount and Cabarrus streets) in Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina, built in 1907 for two Black Masonic lodges.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building represents the social and charitable structure of Raleigh's African American community after the Civil War. It housed the Widow's Son Lodge No. 4, the first Black fraternal association in Raleigh, and Excelsior Lodge No. 21, and was linked to leaders such as Bishop James W. Hood, Stewart Ellison and James H. Young. Its location helped draw Black businesses and residents to southeast Raleigh. It is also called a typical early 20th century commercial building.","narrative":"Built in 1907 at 427 South Blount Street in Raleigh, this three-story building was constructed by two Black Masonic lodges, Widow's Son Lodge No. 4 and Excelsior Lodge No. 21. It has a wood frame, brick veneer, flat roof and Italianate-inspired window details, with commercial space on the ground floor, offices on the second and an assembly hall on the third. Widow's Son Lodge was organized in 1867 by Bishop James W. Hood, and its members included Stewart Ellison, a Wake County legislator, and James H. Young, a newspaper publisher. The lodges rented the hall for dances and leased store space to a funeral parlor, barber shop, drug store and professional offices. Its location near Moore Square helped anchor a Black business and social district that grew around Hargett Street. As integration and economic decline drew businesses away in the 1960s, the building became partially occupied. It remains tied to the history of Black community life in Raleigh.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Italianate details on a simple three-story brick commercial building","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Described as a partially occupied building; ground floor space holds a church and a school of hairdressing, and the brick exterior was recently sandblasted.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:49.793898-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/23/7225/47722523/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/84002533.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002533/5c531a7d95-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002533/5c531a7d95-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Mx. Granger","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Masonic_Temple_Building_on_Blount_Street.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Mx. Granger</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:Masonic_Temple_Building_on_Blount_Street.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"90001527","name":"East Raleigh-South Park Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/east-raleigh-south-park-historic-district-90001527/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47722523","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonic_Temple_Building_(Blount_Street,_Raleigh,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6783773"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/wake-county/masonic-temple-building-84002533/"}