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Ark Lodge

Introduction

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Ark Lodge #126 was built in 1921 by the Free & Accepted Masons, who first organized their Columbia City chapter in 1903. The Masons and their sister organization, the Order of the Eastern Star, met upstairs, while the Heater Glove Factory occupied the first floor. Heater made leather gloves and other goods, including Jack Dempsey’s boxing gloves and the helmet Charles Lindbergh wore on his historic flight across the Atlantic in 1927.

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Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

While today this building is known for the Ark Lodge Cinema which is run out of the second story, this building was originally erected as Ark Lodge #126 masonic lodge in 1921. Ark Lodge #126 was first founded in 1903 originating from a lodge in Georgetown, the only lodge building still in existence from that era. Before 1921, meetings were held at Phalen's hall and then Fraternity hall and the first master of the lodge was Robert Dykeman. However while the building was made for the lodge, they were not the occupants of the first floor. Until 1949, the Heater Glove Company commanded the main hall of the building. Once the company left, the masons adapted the first floor as a dining area. In the 1990s the building was sold but Ark Lodge #126 moved to Tukwila where they still meet to this day. In 2004 the building was renovated into a Theater, where Columbia City Cinema still shows films today.

Sources

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Seattle Government. December 16th 2004. Accessed September 23rd 2020. http://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/Neighborhoods/HistoricPreservation/HistoricDistricts/ColumbiaCity/ColumbiaCity-National-Register-Nomination.pdf.

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