DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just along for the ride. Now, if you were strolling through Austin and you happened to glance up at a building that somehow looks like it can't quite make up its mind — a little Southwest, a little Mission, a dash of Arabic for good measure — well, friend, you'd be standing in front of one of the more well-traveled pieces of real estate in the whole city. This is the Scottish Rite Temple, and its story starts a whole lot earlier than the name on the door might suggest.
Back in 1871, a German social society called the Austin Turn Verein broke ground on what they intended to be an opera house. By 1872 it was standing, and for years that building was the place to be — gymnastics, feasting, dancing, the kind of social center that a city growing into itself absolutely needed. You can almost hear the fiddles, smell the food, picture the whole community pouring through those doors.
Then came 1912. The building changed hands — purchased for the Ben Hur Shrine Temple — and when they got done remodeling it, the architecture had taken on that remarkable blend you see today: Southwest and Mission style woven together with Arabic accents. That is a combination that takes some confidence to pull off, and pull it off they did.
Two years later, in 1914, the building transferred again, this time to the Scottish Rite bodies of Austin. And here's the part that says something about the people involved — they didn't lock the doors behind them. They opened the place up, allowing other Masonic groups to meet there too.
One building, one story with more chapters than most — opera house, social hall, shrine temple, and now a home the Masons share. Austin has always known how to get the most out of a good room.
What the marker says
Built 1871-72 as an opera house by Austin Turn Verein, a German social society. Used for gymnastics, feasting and dancing, it was a social center for years. Purchased in 1912 for Ben Hur Shrine Temple and remodeled, blending Southwest and Mission style architecture with Arabic accents. Transferred in 1914 to Scottish Rite bodies of Austin who allow other Masonic groups to meet here. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967