1900 – 2000
For over 117 years, the Old Masonic Lodge — with it’s distinctive onion dome — has been a downtown Georgetown icon. The onion dome has been the subject of a great deal of speculation. As an architectural element, Onion Domes are a rarity in Texas. But even in Georgetown, it has been elusive. An entire generation of Georgetowners grew up and grew old in the 20th Century never knowing the building was supposed to have a dome, because some time around the First World War the dome disappeared from the building.
Some stories have it that the original copper dome was knocked down in a storm. More likely though, is that it was melted down during the “war fever” days leading up to World War I. Either way, it disappeared from the building around 1915 and was not replaced again until 1986. The new dome was built from old photographs like the ones below, and is made out of zinc, so it is much, much lighter than the original.
