Detroit Masonic Temple

The largest Masonic Temple in the world, completed in 1926 with more than 1,000 rooms and secret passageways. Designed by architect George D. Mason in a Gothic Revival style.

The Detroit Masonic Temple is the largest Masonic temple in the world, encompassing roughly twelve million cubic feet across 1,037 rooms. Designed by renowned local architect George DeWitt Mason, ground was broken on Thanksgiving Day 1920, and the first brick was ceremonially laid using the same historic trowel that George Washington had used at the United States Capitol. The Gothic edifice opened to the public in 1926, containing a large cathedral, several chapels, two ballrooms, hotel facilities, a library, a massive drill hall, and a 4,000-seat auditorium, all designed to accommodate over forty Masonic lodges.

The ghost story most commonly associated with the Masonic Temple is dramatic but historically inaccurate. According to the widely repeated legend, architect George Mason spent so extravagantly on the building's construction that he was driven to bankruptcy. His wife allegedly left him, and a despondent Mason climbed to the top of the 210-foot tower and leapt to his death. The Detroit Historical Society has firmly debunked this narrative. George D. Mason was born on July 4, 1856, and died on June 3, 1948, of natural causes at the age of ninety-one, in his home at the Wilshire Apartment building on Grand Boulevard. He did not go bankrupt, his wife did not leave him, and he never jumped from the roof.

Yet despite the legend being false, the paranormal activity persists. Staff and guests have reported the ghost of a man ascending the stairs toward the rooftop, his footsteps echoing through the upper floors of the temple in the dead of night. The door to the roof is reportedly found unlocked every morning, despite staff making certain to lock it each evening. Windows close on their own, items go missing and reappear in different locations, and an oppressive presence has been felt in the tower stairwell.

The question of who haunts the Masonic Temple, if not George Mason, remains unanswered. The building has served as a gathering place for secretive fraternal organizations for a century, and the Freemasons' reputation for arcane rituals and hidden knowledge has only amplified the temple's mysterious atmosphere. WDET Detroit public radio investigated the haunting in 2025, and the building's role as one of the largest and most ornate fraternal buildings ever constructed continues to fuel speculation about what might linger within its 1,037 rooms. The truth is that something is reportedly climbing those stairs each night, reaching for a roof that George Mason never jumped from, and no one has been able to explain what it is.