Go ahead and take in the Masonic Temple here on your left. You wouldn’t call this building flashy, but with its late Art Deco Moderne style-built back in 1931-it’s still got some serious swagger for a local landmark. Imagine the optimism behind those nifty geometric lines, right as the Great Depression was squeezing the country dry.
But then... disaster struck. In 1933, the lodge lost every cent when their bank went belly-up. Talk about rotten luck-the building was handed over to Pacific Mutual Life Insurance to clear a sixteen thousand nine hundred dollar mortgage. That’s roughly four hundred thousand dollars today, so quite the bitter pill. Yet these folks were nothing if not stubborn. The Masonic lodge rented the building right back, and by 1940, managed to regain ownership-persistent as a Yuma summer.
Not many Modernist Art Deco buildings survived around here, making this place a rare creature. If you’re a fan of cool design, you’re in good company-this temple got its spot on the National Register of Historic Places back in the '80s.
Alright, when you’re ready for the next story, San Carlos Hotel is just four minutes east down the road.
