Sioux City History & Culture by Bicycle Part 21: Scottish Rite Temple

The Sioux City Scottish Rite Temple was not always used for the purpose of the Scottish Rite. It originally was a Knights of Columbus Recreation Center. It went into divestiture & the Sioux City Valley of the Scottish Rite purchased it for their use. They put a lot of money into the building & added on to the west end to convert it to their purpose.

The building is a William L. Steele design with the Prairie School style architecture. It is located at 8th & Douglas Streets.

Work continues to this day to improve the building even more then it is. One of the things being done is the windows are being changed to match the architectural lines of the building, similar to what they originally were when it was first built.

There are free tours available of the building but people will need to call ahead to make sure someone is available to conduct a tour.

There is a book that was written by my Masonic Brother, good friend & mentor, George Harrison called "10 Decades of Light" It gives a very good history of the Scottish Rite in Sioux City & the buildings that have been used by the Scottish Rite over the years, during it's plus 100 year history.

I am very proud to say I am a member of the Scottish Rite & this building is very beautiful on both the outside & inside.