Indiana Freemasons' Hall

03/03/2026

This Saturday, March 7th, is A Night at the Masonic Museum — and tickets MUST be purchased by 5:00 PM TOMORROW (Wednesday)! Don't miss your last shot at this unforgettable evening!

Peer behind the closed doors of the Masons and peek behind the scenes of the Masonic Library & Museum of Indiana after hours in the historic 1909 Indianapolis Masonic Temple for mystery, history, and pure fun:

• Cocktail hour with drinks
• Delicious prime rib dinner (chicken/pasta options too)
• Guided tours, scavenger hunt, and access to incredible rooms like the Egyptian Room & Knights Templar Room
• A special program presented by Christopher Hodapp, best-selling author of Freemasons For Dummies and president of the Masonic Library & Museum of Indiana

• Hosted by Grand Master Randy Seipel — this is your LAST CHANCE to spend an evening with the Grand Master himself!

The SILENT AUCTION is stacked with incredible items you won't find anywhere else:

• 7 nights in a Tuscan villa
• 4 nights in an Irish castle
• Luxury stays in the Mayan Riviera & a private Great Smoky Mountains lodge
• A private tour of the Scottish Rite Cathedral + dinner with Grand Master Randy Seipel and his wife
• Rare Masonic treasures (aprons, rings, Templar swords, artisan pipes)
• Indianapolis 500 memorabilia signed by winners/drivers
• Autographed items from Brother Shaquille O’Neal & Brother Carl Erskine
• Vintage Disney watches, National Treasure shooting scripts, rare books (including Vatican Secret Archives), Old Masters whisky, and much more!

100% of auction proceeds support the Museum and restoring and preserving this National Register landmark.

THIS IS IT! — the clock is ticking! Grab your tickets NOW before they're gone forever:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-night-at-the-masonic-museum-tickets-1981830481319
See you Saturday for an evening of history, mystery, great food, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences!

Mystery & history converge at the Masonic Library & Museum of Indiana after dark—dinner, drinks, and fun guaranteed!

02/08/2026

Brethren, over the last ten years, two sets of PA audio speakers have gone missing from the Temple dining room. The first was a complete system of two large speakers and tripod stands, two microphones, cables, and an audio mixing board. They were purchased new in about 2009 and were lost sometime before 2020.

Another pair of speakers and tripods were placed in the dining room about 3 years ago. They were donated by the DeMolay. Sometime last year one of the speakers and its tripod disappeared yet again. The second one is now locked up with a single microphone and a cable. Multiple searches of the Temple have been made to no avail.

I suppose the original PA system is long gone, and the money donated to purchase it back then was wasted.. But the speaker and tripod from last year may still be recoverable. The Library & Museum is holding an event on March 7th and we don’t want to waste money renting or buying audio equipment all over again. If anyone knows its whereabouts now, please return it to the Temple office, the Museum, or the dining room in the next couple of weeks. No questions will be asked.

01/09/2026

If you are an Indiana Mason and are figuring on just staying home on Saturday and catching the Zoom transmission instead of actually attending Founder's Day in person, you might reconsider.

The very first official Founder’s Day held by the Grand Lodge of Indiana was inaugurated on January 12, 1963 at Murat Shrine in Indianapolis, and has been an annual Indiana tradition ever since. That first event was specifically designed that year by Grand Secretary and PGM Dwight L. Smith to whip up interest in the planned Sesquicentennial celebration that was still four and a half years away, and it was a stellar success. Attendees walked out pumped up with optimism and excitement about the coming years. At that event, Dwight's Sesquicentennial Commission outlined its ambitions for the Grand Lodge and individual lodges for 1967-1968, as well as pondering some great undertaking of benevolence that could be mounted “for the good of humanity.” The program they outlined had already been rattling around in Dwight’s brain for almost a decade, and what was eventually accomplished was remarkably unchanged from the plan presented at that 1963 Founder’s Day.

Beginning with that first Founder's Day, it has been designed to gather as many Indiana Masons together in one place at the same time in order to boost camaraderie, create excitement over coming events, and most important, to get to know both your Grand Lodge officers and each other.

Almost every lodge in the state has just elected their new officers and installed them prior to this coming Saturday. That means many of you in the Cathedral are in the officers line, and this moment in time gives you the opportunity to commiserate with other lodge officers, find out about upcoming programs and available resources to help you in your year, and so much more. Consider that most of you in the room make up a kind of Class of 2026. Share ideas. Steal the great ones and claim them for your own. You'll make friendships from other lodges on Saturday because you are all together - maybe for the only time ever! Explore the Cathedral. Visit the vendors. Come visit the Library & Museum across the street (have some coffee and donuts, and we'll be open the rest of the day, too) and explore beautiful Indiana Freemasons Hall, the headquarters of Grand Lodge (you're a partial owner, so take an interest in it!). Attend the Dwight L. Smith Lodge of Research meeting in the afternoon. In other words, take advantage of this once a year chance to actually meet in person, Brother to Brother.

You can't do that with a Zoom meeting.

Consider why Founder's Day is when it is: the Grand Lodge was founded on January 13th, 1818 in Madison, and I promise, the weather was terrible. But that didn't stop those Masons from getting to Madison on horseback, or on a boat, or in a carriage, in the snowstorm. It took many of them days to get there. Masonry was important to them, enough to brave the wilds of unsettled Indiana in a brutal winter. The weather this Saturday is supposed to be warmish and not terrible, compared to previous years. We've got satellite radio, a warm car, GPS and cruise control.

Don't stay home. Don't let a Zoom meeting drone on in the background while you paint the den or shovel out the garage. It may be the only time this year you can be with so many other Masons in one place at one time.

Come, be with your Brethren. You'll be glad you did.

01/07/2026

For Masons attending Founders Day this coming Saturday, January 10th, 2026, the Masonic Library & Museum of Indiana will be open, beginning at 7:00AM for a cup of coffee and donuts, serving until 9:00AM.

Founders Day festivities begin at the Cathedral at 9:00AM, but we will be open all day until the Dwight L. Smith Lodge of Research meeting concludes in the afternoon.

Come to the 5th floor of the Indianapolis Masonic Temple and Freemasons Hall directly south of the Scottish Rite Cathedral parking lot and see what we've been up to this year! New exhibits, new artifacts, and substantial progress on cataloguing our massive book collection! Meet our interns, explore our collections, or just come and hang out.

02/23/2024

The Indianapolis Masonic Temple/Indiana Freemasons Hall has officially reopened as of Thursday, February 22nd. A carbon monoxide leak detected earlier in the week was from the boilers' exhaust flue. The heating system has been shut down while repairs are being conducted, the building has been completely ventilated, and it is now safe to return. Offices of the Grand Lodge of Indiana, the Indiana Masonic Home Foundation, and the Masonic Library & Museum of Indiana may reopen, and lodges and other related organizations can resume their regular meetings and events.

The ambient temperature in the building is currently in the high 60s. Mild temperatures are predicted well into March, so the building should remain comfortable for the duration of the repair project while the boilers are shut down.

02/21/2024

Attention visitors: On Wednesday morning, we had an alarm go off indicating an elevated level of Carbon Monoxide present in the Indianapolis Masonic Temple/Indiana Freemasons Hall, the location of the Masonic library & Museum of Indiana. The building has been closed and our Facilities Management team contacted the fire department and the gas company, who confirmed the reading.

According to protocol in these types of situations, all gas using equipment has been shut down, the building has been ventilated, and we have contacted our contractors to thoroughly inspect and make any needed repairs to correct the situation.

We should be able to safely open the building and restart the boilers and water heater within 24 - 48 hours. When we reopen, we shall announce it here.

09/22/2023

The Masonic Library & Museum of Indiana announces new hours on Saturdays!

At the Masonic Library & Museum of Indiana, we know it can be hard to come visit us during the work week. Beginning tomorrow, September 23rd, we will be open from 10am-2pm on Saturdays. We're located at 525 N. Illinois Street in Indianapolis, on the 5th floor of the Indianapolis Masonic Temple.

*Please note that weekend hours are seasonal and can be subject to the weather.

Posted on March 2, 2023March 6, 2023The Masonic Apron of Major General Lew Wallace, Author of Ben-Hur Former Indiana Governor David Wallace’s original Masonic apron, later worn by his son, General Lew Wallace. (Leather with silk tape; c. 1826) On loan from the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum,...

07/05/2023

Downtown at the Cathedral awaiting the fireworks show.

07/03/2023

Did anybody else around Indiana know this past May was Historic Preservation Month, commemorated by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources? In fact, this year's Preservation Month was specifically focused on Indiana's Fraternal Organizations.

Would have been nice to know about it ahead of time. Would have been nice if the fraternal organizations they cited had been given the chance to coordinate with the DNR – hold tours, give presentations, host talks within some of our still-operating buildings, organize driving tours of the many remaining fraternal buildings located in cities and towns all over the state... you know, that kind of stuff.

Yep, that would have been nice.

Heck, they even printed up a spiffy poster that lodges all around Indiana would have happily and proudly displayed, if they'd known about it.

https://www.in.gov/dnr/historic-preservation/files/FO-article-for-PatC-2023.pdf

03/04/2023

Can you Show Your Support for our Masonic Youth?
Brother,
On behalf of Grand Master Richard Lentz, I am excited to again, and for the final time, extend an invitation to you and your family for Indiana Masonic Youth Day on Saturday, March 11, 2023, at the Compass Park Event Center (details on RSVP.) This event will showcase the talents of the Rainbow for Girls, Job's Daughters, and DeMolay youth from across the state, and we have over 100 youth signed up to attend but fewer than 30 Masons.
This is a unique opportunity to witness specific ceremonial work that highlights the skills of these talented youth, and we would be honored to have you join us. We hope that this event will inspire our younger members and promote the spirit of fraternity and unity within our community.

In addition, we would like to extend this invitation to your family members, as this event is open to the public. We encourage you to bring your spouse, children, or any other family members who would like to attend.

The day will start at 10:00 a.m. and will include lunch, which will be served around noon. We kindly request that you RSVP to this invitation by Monday morning, March 6, 2023, so that we can make appropriate arrangements.
We understand that your time is valuable, but we hope that you can take some time out of your schedule to join us for this special occasion. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
We look forward to seeing you at Indiana Masonic Youth Day!

Sincerely,
Andy
Director of PR & Marketing
INGL Grand Lodge

03/26/2022

The Decatur man accused of taking a baseball bat to the windows of the Decatur Masonic Temple and inflicting massive damage is now linked to similar attacks at Masonic lodges and facilities scattered across Central Illinois.

Howard D. Lovelady Jr is so far pleading not guilty to seven counts of criminal damage, and those only relate to attacks on the Decatur temple and the Masonic Lodge in Blue Mound. Blue Mound Police Chief Chad Lamb told the Herald & Review that Lovelady is suspected of being the culprit in other acts of criminal damage in Mattoon, Arcola and Springfield, where two lodges and the Ansar Shrine Center were hit. Lovelady is accused of using a metal baseball bat to smash glass in windows and doors in multiple attacks in January and February...(MORE)

Posted by Christopher Hodapp From the Decatur, Illinois Herald & Review website on March 20th by Tony Reid: The Decatur man accused of tak...

03/17/2022

"Discover the Secrets of the Temple”: Indiana Freemasons Hall Tour - Saturday, April 9th 9:00 AM

Join the Dwight L. Smith Lodge of Research on Saturday, April 9th for a basement-to-rooftop guided tour of Indiana Freemasons Hall. The Indianapolis Masonic Temple - also known as Indiana Freemasons Hall - has been the headquarters of the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana since opening its doors over a century ago.

If you've been to Founders Day, Annual Communications, or another event at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, you might not have noticed the enormous windowless limestone Temple across the street. But even if you've been inside for a lodge meeting or visited the Masonic Library & Museum on the fifth floor, you've only seen a tiny part of this remarkable historic landmark.

When it opened in 1908, the Indianapolis Temple was declared "the finest of its kind in the Entire World" and "built to last a thousand years." Now we will take you behind the curtains and locked doors and down the back staircases to discover the Temple's many hidden features and surprises.

After the tour we will have a historical presentation about the original Freemasons Halls in Indianapolis and their importance to the community and the state of Indiana.

Tour will begin at 9:00AM

Indianapolis Masonic Temple
525 N. Meridian Street
Indianapolis, IN

Following the tour we will meet for lunch at El Toro Mexican Restaurant (formerly Acapulco Joe's) located two blocks south of the temple.

PLEASE NOTE: There are areas of the building such as the basement and the rooftop that are not handicap-friendly. Access to these areas may be severely limited or restricted altogether. Some areas are also in varying stages of renovation or disrepair. Be sure to wear clothes you won't mind getting dirty, along with comfortable shoes.

This tour is open to all - Masons, their families, and friends.
So please join us!

Join the Dwight L. Smith Lodge of Research on Saturday, April 9th for a basement-to-rooftop guided tour of Indiana Freemasons Hall. The Indianapolis Masonic Temple - also known as Indiana Freemasons Hall - has been the headquarters of the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana since opening its doors over a ...