Masonic Hall
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Bedford Museum and Genealogical Library (Masonic Hall)
1895, H. H. Huggins. 201 E. Main St.
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(Photograph by Mark Mones) -
(Photograph by Mark Mones)
This weighty, three-story Romanesque Revival dark-red brick building is three bays wide in the center with flanking tower-like side bays. Three massive stone arches outline the central entrance and its two flanking windows. On the second floor level, two oriels and an egg-and-dart terra-cotta belt course add to the building's textural qualities. The pyramidal roofs on the side bays are steep counterpoints to the low hipped roof on the main body of the building. The Bedford Museum opened in 1922 and occupied various locations until it settled here in 1979. Opposite at 206 E. Main, the Bell House, built for a prominent merchant, has a tall and elaborate brick cornice with heavy corbeling, segmental-arched windows, and a one-bay cast-iron porch.
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