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Panoramic Tour of a Great Masonic Temple

Updated: May 14, 2023

https://www.themasonic.com/building_architecture.php I received this link from member Daniel Semel the other day and thought that other members might be interested in spending a little time on this very enjoyable tour. This is best viewed on a full size monitor , so hold off watching it on your phone. Thanks to Dan for sending this on.

Perhaps you are bored being sequestered due to COVID-19. If so dismayed, and annoyed by the new buzz words "social isolation" and "social distancing" I hope the following interests you.

For some time now I have been researching a circa 1900 designer/manufacturer of agricultural hand tools (scythes, hatchets, etc) by the name of Horatio "ByGum" Earle.

A curious character, he is enshrined in my mental pantheon of forgotten heroes of America's industrial past. Remarkably energetic, Horatio Earle is considered the "Father of American Roads" having built the USA's first mile of paved road as Michigan's highway commissioner.

To the end of his days it annoyed "Brother" Earle that the public perception was that the "Good Roads" movement that he headed was in response to the development of the automobile. In point of fact it was the result of pressure from "Wheelmen" as bicyclists were then known. Beginning as "Consul" (I think that term is akin to a publicist, or perhaps a lobbyist) for Detroit's local Wheelmen's Club, Earle wended his way up the ladder to head the League of American Wheelmen, the national group.

As a Freemason, "Brother" Horatio Earle put together the deal to acquire the land on which "Masonic Temple Detroit" now stands. What prompts this e-mail is my awe as I pondered the scale of that building - perhaps you are aware of its magnificence, if not, I expect you, like me, will find the "public" accommodations of that building staggering. Multiple theaters, multiple ballrooms, etc.

If you have time as you "shelter" in place, I suggest you take the automated 360º tour. To go from room to room or floor to floor, click on the word "Masonic" as it slowly comes into view as each room's panorama closes in on 360.

Daniel Semel

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