George Washington Masonic National Memorial
The George Washington Masonic National Memorial is a memorial, museum and Masonic meeting place on Shuter's Hill in Alexandria, Virginia. It commemorates George Washington and his association with Freemasonry. The building also houses a research library and spaces for public and cultural events. It received National Historic Landmark designation in 2015.[1]
Origins and construction
The project developed from Alexandria-Washington Lodge's wish to preserve objects associated with Washington. A fire in 1871 had destroyed part of its collection. In 1910, representatives of twenty-six Grand Lodges met in Alexandria and formed the Memorial Association to undertake a larger commemorative project.[2]
Ground was broken on 5 June 1922. The Association's history states that construction proceeded as funds became available, without borrowing. The Memorial was dedicated on 12 May 1932, during the bicentenary of Washington's birth.[2] Much of the interior was still unfinished at dedication; fitting out continued after the Second World War, and the Association dates completion to 1970.[3][2]
Design and setting
Harvey Wiley Corbett, of Helmle & Corbett, was the principal architect. The design combines classical forms with a tall, stepped tower characteristic of contemporary experiments in skyscraper architecture. The Olmsted Brothers firm designed the terraced landscape.[3]
The Association's detailed design history traces the stepped tower to the ancient lighthouse at Ostia, near Rome. It describes a Doric entrance inspired by the Parthenon and successive tower stages using Doric, Ionic and Corinthian forms.[4]
Earlier history of Shuter's Hill
The hill contains archaeological remains which predate the Memorial. Alexandria's city archaeologists have documented evidence of Native American occupation, a late eighteenth-century plantation and a nineteenth-century estate. Excavation of the plantation laundry forms part of that research.[5]
During the American Civil War, Union forces built Fort Ellsworth on the hill in 1861 as part of the defences of Washington. It protected routes approaching Alexandria and was dismantled after the war. Much of its archaeological site lies within the Memorial's grounds.[6] The City's preservation assessment identifies the fort and its associated entrenchments as a resource for studying Civil War defensive construction. The Memorial landscape thus includes both the twentieth-century designed grounds and evidence of earlier uses of the hill.[7]
Collections and commemoration
The Memorial's displays include Bryant Baker's bronze statue of Washington and murals by Allyn Cox depicting scenes from Washington's life.[8] Its combination of exhibitions, library collections and meeting accommodation reflects its educational and fraternal purposes.[1]
The landmark assessment identifies the project as an unusual nationwide collaboration between independent American Grand Lodges, which joined through the Memorial Association to create a shared commemorative building.[3]
Related articles
- George Washington
- Masonic museums and libraries
- The Five Classical Orders of Architecture
- The Masonic Million Memorial Fund
- Masonic buildings and memorials
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association, About Us. Accessed 30 September 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association, A Brief History, sections on the Association and construction.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association, National Historic Landmark Designation Details, architectural significance and integrity.
- ↑ George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association, The Memorial Temple: The Designer and the Design, 1920–1921, section “A Lighthouse Takes Shape”.
- ↑ City of Alexandria, Wayfinding: Shuter's Hill, sections on archaeology and the Civil War.
- ↑ Shawn Eyer, Fort Ellsworth, George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association.
- ↑ City of Alexandria, Archaeology and Preservation, section 7, Shuter's Hill.
- ↑ National Park Service, George Washington Masonic National Memorial, updated 26 September 2024, discussion of interior artworks.
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