Seventeen charter members formed Kalispell Lodge No. 42 in 1892. Masons first held lodge meetings in several locations. Work began on this building in 1904, but when the Great Northern Railway moved its division point to Whitefish, the town paused and construction stopped. In a show of faith in the town’s future, the Renaissance Revival style temple was completed in 1905. Designed by architect George Shanley, the lodge hall was upstairs while commercial tenants, including J. C. Penney’s from 1924 to 1956, occupied the ground floor. During World War I, the Century Club ran a store in the basement. There, 115 “liberty-loving women”—including one who had also knitted during the Civil War—sewed and knit everything from surgeons’ gowns and bed caps to sweaters and socks for men in the trenches. The store raised $2,000 for the Red Cross. By 1922, Lodge No. 42 had grown to 400 members who filled the upstairs lodge hall. Despite some changes, the Renaissance Revival style upper story remains pristine, featuring grand arched windows with keystones, intricate brickwork, and ornamental concrete and rough-cut stone.
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