From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

SF Masonic Auditorium

Building and auditorium located atop Nob Hill in San Francisco, California, USA

Summary

Building and auditorium located atop Nob Hill in San Francisco, California, USA

Field	Value
name	SF Masonic Auditorium
former_names	Grand Masonic Auditorium (1958-95)
Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium (1995-2014)
image	File:Masonic Temple1.jpg
image_size	250px
address	1111 California St
San Francisco, CA 94108-2252
coordinates
broke_ground
opened
renovated	1975, 2005, 2010, 2014
owner	Masons of California
operator	Live Nation
cost	$6 million
($ in dollars)
architect	Albert Roller
capacity	3,481
website

Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium (1995-2014) San Francisco, CA 94108-2252 ($ in dollars)

The SF Masonic Auditorium (originally the Grand Masonic Auditorium and formerly known as the Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium) is a building and auditorium located atop Nob Hill in San Francisco, California. The building was designed by Bay Area architect Albert Roller (1891-1981), and opened in 1958. It serves as the meeting venue for the Masons of California during their Annual Communication, as well as being used as a concert venue the rest of the year (operated by Live Nation). The administrative offices of the Grand Lodge of California are contained in the upper floors, and the Henry Wilson Coil Library and Museum of Freemasonry is located on the mezzanine. The basement contains a five-level public parking garage.

History

Freemasonry came to California just prior to the Gold Rush of 1849. By 1850, a Grand Lodge was constituted in Sacramento, to oversee the Lodges operating throughout the State at that time (primarily in port towns along the Sacramento Delta and gold mining towns in the Sierra foothills). Construction began in 1861 for a new Grand Lodge building in San Francisco at the corner of Post and Montgomery Streets. It was completed in 1863 and destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The architectural firm of Bliss & Faville designed a new building for the Grand Lodge of California at 25 Van Ness Avenue which was completed in 1913 and occupied by them until 1958 when it relocated to the new building at 1111 California Street. The 25 Van Ness building is currently used by the Rent Board of San Francisco, but evidence of its Masonic history survives in the façade, lobby and other areas that bear Masonic motifs.

Features

On the main (north) façade, there is a large frieze by Emile Norman bearing the inscription "Dedicated to our Masonic Brethren who died in the cause of freedom", depicting stylized servicemen from each of the four branches of the Armed Services, and a global tug of war representing global struggles. Inside the lobby is a huge mosaic window likewise designed by Emile Norman. The window depicts a variety of natural and Masonic themes. It contains gravel and soil from each of the 58 counties in California.

The lower part of the mosaic by Emile Norman

References

(11 February 2015). "Inside 25 van Ness, A Repurposed Masonic Temple".
"Masonic Center". Nob Hill Masonic Center.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

masonic-buildings-completed-in-1958 buildings-and-structures-in-san-francisco masonic-buildings-in-california music-venues-in-san-francisco nob-hill,-san-francisco

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about SF Masonic Auditorium — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report