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(Photograph by Jeff Dean, courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society)
The construction of this lodge building coincided with the golden age of Freemasonry in Wisconsin. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, fraternal lodges included among their members the businessmen and professionals who made up the local elite. After a fire destroyed the hall used by several of Oregon’s fraternal organizations, the Masons erected this exuberant cream and red brick building, which also served the Order of the Eastern Star, the Knights of Pythias, and the Women’s Relief Corps. Above the second-story windows, the Masonic emblem of compass and square appears at the center of a red sandstone medallion framed in red brick. Fine details, including the red brick arcade at the roof parapet and the ogee-arched window heads, lend a vaguely Moorish flavor. The building retains its original cast-iron storefront, where the Prichard and Cusick hardware store displayed its wares. The interior, too, has kept its historic appearance, including its pressed-metal ceiling embellished with garlands and geometric motifs.