DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, in my own words. Now, some buildings just sit on a corner. And then there are buildings that a city decides to deserve.
The Dallas Scottish Rite Temple is that second kind. It all started with one man — Samuel P. Cochran, born 1855, and a figure of some standing in the Masonic world and the Dallas community alike.
In 1902, Cochran headed the committee that set the whole thing in motion, initiating plans for what would become one of the city's most distinguished structures. Now, from first plan to finished building is a long road, and this one took some years to travel. Masonic officials gathered for the cornerstone laying in March of 1907 — so right there you've got five years just to get to that moment.
And then the work went on. The dedication ceremony didn't come until April of 1913, a full six years after that cornerstone dropped into place. That is a building that was not rushed.
The men who designed it, Herb Miller Greene and J. B. Hubble, were themselves Lodge members — so this wasn't just a commission handed to outsiders.
These were men with a stake in what they were drawing. They gave it a Neo-classical form, and they filled it with fine materials and craftsmanship that Dallas has been calling a showcase ever since. Samuel P.
Cochran lived until 1936, long enough to see what that 1902 committee of his had put into the world. Some legacies you build with your hands. Some you build with a committee and a whole lot of patience.
This one, it turns out, was both.
What the marker says
Dallas Scottish Rite Temple Samuel P. Cochran (1855 - 1936), a prominent Mason and community leader, headed the committee that initiated plans for this building in 1902. Masonic officials assembled for the cornerstone laying in March 1907 and for the dedication ceremony in April 1913. Herb Miller Greene and J. B. Hubble, both Lodge members, designed the Neo-classical structure. A Dallas landmark, it is a showcase of fine materials and craftsmanship. RTHH - 1978