Albany Masonic Temple - Albany 4.01

The Albany Masonic Temple, at the corner of Corning Place and Lodge Street in downtown Albany, is the home of 5 Masonic Lodges, York Rite-Masonry and Scottish-Rite Masonry, as well as several women’s organizations. The Temple stands within sight of the New York State Capitol building.

The Albany Temple is built on the same site, where, on May 12th, 1768, the cornerstone was laid for the first lodge house built and owned by a Masonic lodge (Master’s Lodge No.5) in North America.

Since that time, this property has remained continuously vested in the hands of the Masonic Fraternity, the oldest such property known to exist in the world.

The present building, at 67 Corning Place, was erected in 1895-96 to the designs of Albany architects Fuller and Wheeler and incorporated such Italian Renaissance-style elements as rusticated stonework, a loggia with Ionic columns and wide eaves. The entry is flanked by polished stone columns with orbs and protected by a handsome wrought-iron gate.