Ashlar Lodge No.10

The Freemasons is a fraternal and religious-based philanthropic organization that can claim members all the way back to Colonial America; its early American rosters include George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere, and John Hancock. Carrying on this tradition, in 1887, pioneer businessman (and future Wyoming governor) DeForest Richards established in Douglas the masonic Ashlar Lodge No. 10, which in time attracted members from all over eastern and central Wyoming. By 1924, the initial membership of 14 had increased to a total of 237—warranting construction of a building, or “masonic temple,” dedicated especially to the local organization. The Casper-based architectural firm of Dubois and Goodrich was chosen to design the structure. At the time, Dubois was already a known and admired quantity in Douglas, having designed the Douglas City Hall and Converse County Courthouse buildings in 1915, as well as residences for Richards’ son, J. Deforest, and for another prominent Douglas businessman, John T. Williams. With its massive red-brick walls and Neo-Classical pilasters, the resulting building appears weighty, stolid, and anchored in tradition. Originally, a series of large rectangular windows opened directly out onto the surrounding sidewalk; these tended to offset the building’s imposing mass, and established a connection between the private interior and the public exterior. Apparently for economy’s sake, most of these windows have since been sealed under layers of stuccoed paneling. An entablature above the main entrance, which is located at one end of the main (east) façade, includes a ceramic medallion featuring the masonic symbol and the year in which the cornerstone was laid; the latter, also dated, is set at the opposite end of the same façade.