On January 13, 1925, a crowd gathered outside the Scottish Rite Cathedral in Peoria, Illinois.
It was the Roaring Twenties, and the magnificent building had just been completed. Calvin Coolidge was president, Jimmy Carter was three months old, and Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” had recently been played for the first time. A new house cost just over $7,700, a gallon of milk was 54 cents, and a loaf of bread was less than a dime.
It is not hard to imagine the excitement that the crowd must have felt on the day of the Scottish Rite’s dedication. After all, the V. Jobst Construction Company had been working tirelessly on it for two and a half years. It cost $400,000 to construct the building. To replicate this craftsmanship today, it would cost tens of millions.
The structure was inspired by Edward Ulysses Henry’s travels in Europe, where he saw the hauntingly beautiful Gothic architecture. When Henry returned to Peoria, he tasked the architectural firm Hewitt, Emerson, and Gregg to design a building based on this vision. Architect Herbert Hewitt was known for having designed the First National Bank Building—the highest building in Peoria at the time.
With its flying buttresses and pointed arches, the Scottish Rite is an architectural masterpiece.
Although based on Gothic architecture, it also has the feeling of an English Great Hall. Its vast interior features numerous Masonic symbols. Walking into the space, your eyes are immediately drawn to a large, double-headed eagle—a symbol commonly used by the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. The number 32 inside of the triangle represents the 32nd degree of the Scottish Rite. Below it is the Latin motto, “Spes mea in Deo est,” which means “My hope is in God.”
In 1985, the Scottish Rite began to rent out the space to the public.
From concerts to weddings, it quickly became one of the most sought-after venues in the Peoria area. In addition to the auditorium, there is a lower level ballroom with capacity for over 400 people, a full-service kitchen, a library, meeting rooms, and much more.