The Grand is a Masonic temple located in Baltimore, Maryland. Constructed in 1866 by the Freemasons as the Grand Lodge of Maryland Masonic Temple, the building was the headquarters for the Maryland Freemasons for over 130 years. Edmund G. Lind was commissioned to design a new Masonic Temple. The French and Italian Renaissance-inspired property is a 7-story, 90,000 square foot building in downtown Baltimore. Among its ten main meeting rooms are Edinburgh Hall, modeled after the Tudor-style Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland, and another which resembles an Egyptian temple. The building features ornate plaster moldings, a marble staircase, stained glass windows and Rococo chandeliers.In 1822, the Masons dedicated their first Grand Lodge of Maryland on St. Paul Street and Lexington Avenue. During the Civil War years, the Grand Lodge served as a federal court house for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. After the war ended, Baltimore's economy returned to its economic focus and continued to expand. Later on, the City of Baltimore acquired the Grand Lodge for a permanent extension of the Court House, and the Masons began construction on their second Grand Lodge. On November 20, 1866, the cornerstone was laid for the new Grand Lodge on Charles Street. A fire destroyed the interior in 1890, and a second fire again gutted the building in 1900, also destroying the upper stories. Repairs were completed in 1909, according to designs by Joseph Evans Sperry. It was Sperry who added the Beaux Arts sixth story and attic, as well as the elaborate ornamentation around the entryway.
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