Before the Baptists acquired this building in 1950, it was the home of the Golden Gate Commandery #16 of the Knights Templar. I knew of the
Knights Templar as a medieval Christian military order, associated with the short Crusader occupation of Jerusalem and development of trade and banking; I hadn't realized there was a modern iteration of the Knights, a branch of Freemasonry.
In 1907, the San Francisco chapter of these Masonic Knights erected their multi-story fortress in the Western Addition. Its
architectural style is known as the Jacobean Phase of Medieval Revival.
The decorative sculptural details are quite extraordinary. Click on them to enlarge.
It's intriguing to realize that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached here in the 1950s and 60s, presumably rallying local support for the civil rights struggle in the South.
Discovered while Walking San Francisco.
1 comment:
Any idea who did the sculptures? Perhaps an Italian artist?
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