Washington DC can fairly be described as the world’s foremost "Masonic City." Its centre was laid out according to a plan drawn up by the French Freemason Pierre L’Enfant.
    Today, the main Government area is filled with buildings that should delight any freemason seeing them for the first time. There is a veritable forest of columns and domes with Hellenic temple-style motifs forming part of, or dominating almost every building except the most modern.
    The most impressive monument is undoubtedly the Washington Monument, dedicated to the first President and Founding Father of the country. It was conceived by freemasons and, as a giant obelisk, has a strongly masonic flavour. It has recently been cleaned and renovated and now gleams brilliantly, especially at night when it is floodlit. Towering to a height of 555 feet (acknowledging the ‘rule of three’) it was once the tallest building in the world.
    Even before Washington became President there were plans for a monument to commemorate his deeds during the Revolution as General Washington. Not surprisingly it was envisaged that it would take the form of a statue of the General on horseback.
    In fact, nothing was done for many years because the equestrian statue seemed inadequate and it was thought that a mausoleum, perhaps in the form of a pyramid, might be more appropriate. Eventually a tomb was provided in the crypt of the National Capitol building, but it remained empty.
    Washington had requested that he should be buried in the grounds of his estate at Mount Vernon and it was difficult to overrule his wishes. As compensation, a heroic statue of Washington as Zeus was placed in the Capitol. However, a half-naked Founder of the Nation dressed in a toga, sandals and with a crown of laurels did not find much favour, and it was eventually removed to the Museum of American History.
    Interest in commemorating Washington’s great contributions waned until, in 1833, it was decided that a Washington National Monument Society should be formed to decide on a suitable form for a monument and to raise funds to build it.
    In 1848, a site was found, a design approved and the cornerstone was laid on Independence Day in a masonic ceremony attended by President Polk and other dignitaries.
    In 1852 the Monument had reached a height of 126 feet. But building stopped, first for lack of funds, then as a result of interference by the "Know Nothings" (an anti-Catholic political group which objected to the inclusion of a stone donated by Pope Pius IX), and finally because of the Civil War.
    At this point Congress became discouraged and took up its original concept of an equestrian statue: this was completed and dedicated in 1860. It now stands almost unnoticed in Washington Circle, just seven blocks from the White House.
    The Monument remained in a partly finished state until construction began again in 1880, with a second cornerstone being laid at the 150-feet level by President Hayes. It was completed in December 1884, 101 years after the Congress had declared its intent to build a Monument, and 51 years after the Monument Society was formed. The Monument was dedicated on Washington’s 153rd birthday in 1885 and opened to the public three years later.
    It is beautifully proportioned, exactly matching its Egyptian forebears, and is quite plain, apart from a slight discolouration, ending about 150 feet above the ground, which can be invoked to impress the gullible as marking the height of the Great Flood.
    There is a lift which takes visitors to an observation room at the 500-feet level. Along the staircase, the use of which is restricted to those going down, there are 194 memorial stones contributed by numerous masonic and other lodges as well as by States, counties, cities and other organisations from around the country. A substitute for the missing ‘Pope’s stone’ and the last State memorial, a valuable piece of jade from Alaska, was installed in 1982.
    However, the masons were not satisfied. In 1922 the Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22 of Alexandria, Virginia, resolved to build a National Masonic Memorial to "George Washington, Patriot, Farmer, Surveyor, General of the Continental Armies, Founding Father, First President and Freemason", in the form of a masonic temple, which would also provide facilities for the lodge. The Memorial was designed after the lighthouse that stood in the harbour of Alexandria, Egypt, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Ground was broken on Shuter’s Hill, overlooking Alexandria, in July 1922 and the corner stone laid in October 1923 in the presence of President Coolidge. Working continuously and with a steady source of funds, the building was completed in 1931, although the interior was not finished at this time. It was dedicated in 1932, 200 years after Washington’s birth, in the presence of President Hoover. The total cost was well in excess of $3 million.
    The Memorial in Alexandria is perhaps less elegant than the simply-conceived Monument six miles distant in Washington DC, but it is much more interesting to visit. It is 333 feet high (taking the rule of three as far as possible) with a Memorial Hall at the entrance level, above which are seven levels housed in the tower which is built in three sections, with Ionic, Doric and Corinthian architecture.
    The Memorial Hall is grandiose: a 17-feet high bronze statue of Washington stands at the far end, lit from behind and unveiled in the presence of President Truman in 1950. On either side there are four huge Corinthian columns. Behind them galleries with two enormous (46 x 18 feet) murals depict Washington laying the cornerstone of the National Capitol in 1793 (a masonic ceremony), and Washington and brethren at a St. John’s Day Observance in Philadelphia, 28 December 1778.
    To the left of the entrance at basement level is a replica of the Alexandria-Washington No.22 lodge room with portraits and memorabilia of Washington and his friends.
    The seven floors above the Memorial Hall contain rooms devoted to various masonic bodies including the Royal Arch, the Shrine Hospitals, the Cryptic degrees, the Knights Templar Chapel, the Grotto, the Tall Cedars of Lebanon (surrounded by an observation deck) and a Memorial Museum sponsored by the Scottish Rite.
    Each of these is of a different architecture and all are filled with interesting objects and murals, usually with an audio commentary supplementing the introduction given by a guide. They are a delight to visit for non-masons as well as masons.
    The Assembly Hall in the basement contains the downward continuation of the massive columns found in the Memorial Hall. There are dioramas depicting events in the life of George Washington, the world’s largest Persian carpet and an animatronic George Washington that stands up, welcomes visitors with a pretty speech and sits down again.
    There are two lodge rooms, one for the Alexandria-Washington Lodge (Scottish Rite) and the North Lodge Room used by the York Rite bodies, Symbolic Lodges, Tall Cedars, Amaranth, Eastern Star, Job’s Daughters and other organisations.
    The large room devoted to the Shrine of North America is particularly interesting. The Shriners, who must be Knight’s Templar (York Rite) or 32° Scottish Rite masons, support 22 Hospitals for Children, giving emphasis to the treatment of burns and spinal cord injuries.
    The room also contains a fez collection, representing each of the 191 Temples and Chapters in the country, and portraits of some distinguished members of the Shrine. These include Presidents Harding, Franklin Roosevelt, Truman and Ford, the last four Presidents of Mexico, former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker of Canada and the last King of Hawaii.
    I do not want to give the impression that the Memorial is a kind of masonic Disneyland. It is not, although it is fun to visit as well as being impressive and instructive. It is easily reached by metro from downtown Washington, passing through stations with such evocative names as Foggy Bottom, Arlington Cemetery, Pentagon, Crystal City and Ronald Reagan National Airport to King Street. Alexandria itself is a charming town, full of 18th century Georgian buildings. A visit to the Memorial and to the town constitutes a very pleasant day’s outing for any tourist.
    There is more to see in the area, including Washington’s home at Mount Vernon, about five miles south of Alexandria, and further south, a number of Civil War sites. However, for the masonic tourist, the House of the Temple at 1733 Sixteenth Street in Washington should not be missed.
    To give its full name, it is the Headquarters of the Supreme Council, 33° (the Mother Council of the World), of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, USA.
    The building takes the form of a massive plinth surmounted by an Ionic Temple with elements based on the Temples of Athena, Apollo and Hercules. The plinth contains space for banqueting facilities. An impressive atrium and the Supreme Council Chamber are located on the ground floor, and the awe-inspiring Temple Chamber is on the upper floor beneath the dome.
    There are offices for each of the 33 active members of the Supreme Council. George Washington makes his presence felt in the form of a bronze bust, which stands in the garden.
    The overall impression given by the Temple, built between 1911 and 1916, is one of ‘sumptuousness’, ‘overwhelming simplicity’ and ‘powerful dignity’. It was the first major public commission of the architect, John Russell Pope. This brought him an outstanding international reputation and commissions for a series of important public buildings, including the Modern Sculpture wing of the Tate Gallery, the Elgin Marble wing of the British Museum, the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Jefferson Memorial.
    Given that the Supreme Council meets only biennially, this extraordinary building might seem unnecessarily ostentatious. However, it has another purpose: it is a statement about the great influence that freemasonry has had in the USA, especially at the time it was built.
    That influence has undoubtedly declined, as is evidenced by the fact that since Truman no freemason has been elected President (President Ford being the unelected successor of President Nixon). Indeed, things have reached the state where Presidents Johnson and Reagan, who were made Honorary Entered Apprentices, were not inspired to rise any further in the Craft.
    Nevertheless, the Temple of the Supreme Council is something to be enjoyed by masons and non-masons alike. Visitors are provided with a guide, quite typically, as in my case, a retired, courtly gentleman with a slight Virginian accent and an 8° Freemason. My guide showed me around the building, describing its peculiarly masonic features, especially the columns that seemed to be his special interest.
    He showed me the Temple Library, Archives and various Museums, the Albert Pike Room, the Robert Burns Library (‘the Poet Laureate of Freemasonry"), the Kleinknecht Collection of Porcelains from around the world, the Burl Ives Collection and the J. Edgar Hoover Law Enforcement Room.
    Freemasonry in America had its roots in Military (Irish and Scottish) lodges as well as in non-military Antient and Modern lodges. In the early 18th century, freemasonry had a distinctly Whiggish character.
    But Grand Lodge, being ambitious for control, began to try to attract first the nobility, with the Duke of Montagu becoming the 4th Grand Master in 1721, and eventually royalty, with the King’s brother, the Duke of Cumberland, becoming Grand Master in 1782.
    George III does not seem to have been a freemason, but he was surrounded by them in the form of his father, brothers and sons. This resulted in Grand Lodge becoming ‘Torified’ and not at all agreeable to American tastes. When the Revolution was over, large numbers of Tories left for Canada and England.
    This had the effect of suppressing any interest in ‘Modern’ Grand Lodge Freemasonry. The field was left to the York Rite and the Scottish Rite (introduced from France via Bordeaux and the West Indies), so that ‘Antient’ freemasonry finally triumphed in the USA.
    These various masonic sites are an integral part of Washington’s City, although non-masons usually pay no attention to them.
    Even scholarly biographies of Washington rarely note that he was a freemason, and then only casually, as if he had been indulging in some insignificant hobby.