Hilo Masonic Lodge Hall-Bishop Trust Building
About this property
Hilo Masonic Lodge Hall, also known as the Bishop Trust Building, is a historic structure in Hilo, Hawaii constructed between 1908 and 1910. It was designed to house commercial space on the ground floor and a meeting hall for a local Masonic lodge on the second floor. The Masons stayed until around 1985. The Masonic Lodge in Hilo was founded in 1896 at the home of William W. Goodale. On October 15, 1897 Kilauea Lodge #330 was officially chartered. Named for the nearby active Kīlauea volcano, it was the first Masonic lodge on Hawaiʻi Island. John Troup Moir (1859–1933) manager of the Onomea sugarcane plantation in Papaikou, Hawaii, was master of the lodge. He was also the first chairman of the board of supervisors for the County of Hawaii. A delegation from the Grand Lodge of California officially presented Kīlauea lodge with its charter in February 1898. The lodge met in a room of a building owned by Frederick S. Lyman, son of early Hilo missionaries Sarah Joiner and David Belden Lyman. The Lyman building was on leased land, so an association (with Moir as president) was formed to purchase a lot uphill from the town, assuming urban Hilo would grow in that direction. The association raised most of what they thought a building would cost by October 1900. When a federal building was being planned in Hilo around the same time, the lodge proposed swapping their land for a corner of the federal lot, but public protests prevented the deal at first. By January 1906 they were successful in arranging a deal with Territorial Governor George R. Carter to swap their land (desired for a school) for a more central parcel, paying the difference in value. Based on a sketch by freemason William McKay (1841–1909), architects were interviewed in Honolulu and the mainland. Henry F. Starbuck of Oakland, California was selected to design the building. He was a freemason and had designed several other lodges and churches. Harold Vaughan Patten was given as "architect" in one account, but he probably served to supervise the financial aspects of the project since he was an accountant. Plans were ready to be finalized at the end of March 1906. Construction was scheduled to begin in July when leases expired on the land which they were purchasing from the territory. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck less than a month later, before construction could begin. Rebuilding of San Francisco after the resulting fire caused building materials to become scarce and more expensive, causing delays and cost over-runs on the Hilo project. Finally ground was broken in May 1908. In June Starbuck traveled to Hilo to oversee construction with workers he had selected. After a few months Starbuck and the workers were dismissed; Fred Harrison from Honolulu became construction contractor. The cornerstone was laid February 18, 1909.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Hilo Masonic Lodge Hall-Bishop Trust Building listed on the National Register?
Hilo Masonic Lodge Hall-Bishop Trust Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 20, 1994.
What type of historic resource is Hilo Masonic Lodge Hall-Bishop Trust Building?
Hilo Masonic Lodge Hall-Bishop Trust Building is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Hilo Masonic Lodge Hall-Bishop Trust Building?
The period of significance for Hilo Masonic Lodge Hall-Bishop Trust Building is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Hilo Masonic Lodge Hall-Bishop Trust Building?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Hilo Masonic Lodge Hall-Bishop Trust Building will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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