The Knight Templars, a Masonic order modeled after Medieval Christian Crusaders, held their 36th triennial conclave in Seattle on July 28-30, 1925. More than 10,000 participants from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana flooded into Seattle. The city was decorated with over 150 illuminated Christian crosses, the order's symbol, including a 40-foot lighted cross placed on top of the Olympic Hotel, 12 searchlights "crossing" the sky, and a 95-foot-high "Grand Welcome Arch" at Second Avenue and Marion Street which was topped with its own flood-lit cross.
This image shows a temporary feudal castle at City Hall Park on Yesler Way and Third Avenue, where it served as the Grand Encampment's headquarters during the conclave. Behind the castle is the King County Courthouse and Municipal Building, also called the County-City Building, which opened at that location in 1916.
Caption information source: https://pauldorpat.com/category/seattle-now-and-then/page/47 Caption information source: The Seattle Daily Times, July 26, 1925, p. 47 Caption information source: http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/5108
ID Number: 1981.7254.6
Date: 1925
Physical Description: 1 photographic print : b&w ; 4 x 6.25 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
