2015 List

Masonic Temple

Endangered List: Back To Main Page
City/County/Congressional District: Pine Bluff , Jefferson County ( District 4 )
Location Class: Commercial
Year Built: 1902 | Year Abandoned: 1970
Historic Designation: National Register of Historic Places 1978
Status: AbandonedEndangered

The African American Masonic Temple was begun in 1902 and when it was completed two years later, stood as the largest building in downtown Pine Bluff. It is a four story masonry building, the exterior of which is largely intact, apart from a dormer destroyed in 1954 fire and not rebuilt. Many businesses operated from the structure, including Arkansas’s first African American owned financial institution. The building’s original cornerstone is a virtual “Who’s Who” of Arkansas’s most notable African American citizens.