Hidden within an unassuming building in bustling downtown Sanford, North Carolina lies an abandoned space with a fascinating past. Once home to a shadowy secretive society steeped in clandestine rituals, photographer Leland Kent of Abandoned Southeast has captured this incredible derelict Masonic temple in all its glory. Click or scroll on to step inside and uncover its mysteries...

Behind the blonde brick façade of this historic abandoned building lurk more secrets than you might guess. Granite pilasters rise to form a horizontal band above the second-floor windows that evokes the architecture of a Greek temple, while raised medallions dotted along the band contain the Freemasons' square and compasses emblem. The Masons, also called the Freemasons, are a fraternal social and philanthropic organisation loosely based on medieval craft guilds.

Documented by Leland Kent, the temple's granite ground floor entrance has the society’s name carved into the grey lintel over the doorway, while the left corner of the building features a stone commemorating Grand Master James LeGrand Everett, who was the Lodge’s leader in the 1920s. Notice the grand copper sconce lights framing the door, which must have once looked like huge flaming torches when lit. But it’s the third floor with its mysteriously shuttered windows where things get really interesting...

Inside the abandoned space, an ornamental antique staircase dominates the ground floor. The decorative newel posts mimic the shape of Doric columns of classical Greek architecture – fitting grandeur for the stairway to a temple. The square and compasses emblem, which is seen across the building, is steeped in symbolism: the square ruler can suggest the straight line of morality, the compasses may signify harmony and stability, while the letter ‘G’ in the middle may represent God, geometry or the 'Great Architect of the Universe'.

Now derelict, the ground floor below the temple was once home to a bustling collection of shops. Constructed in 1924, the building stands on the former site of Sanford Baptist Church, but the roots of Sanford Masonic Lodge reach back into the 19th century. Two older lodges merged and moved to town in the 1920s. Chalmers Lodge in nearby Carbonton, chartered in 1853, and McCormick Lodge, chartered in 1865, became Sanford Lodge 151 when the church land was purchased by the members.

This colourised postcard gives a good impression of the temple in its heyday, around 1930. A thriving retail hub, it featured a Cole’s Pharmacy on the ground floor plus advertising signs on the side for a shoe shop and printers. Apparently, it also boasted a soda bar complete with a soda fountain – the height of cool for teens at that time. Interestingly, there's also a swing sign depicting the emblem of the Freemasons over the entrance. This appears to have disappeared from the building today.

Climbing the creaking, antique stairs you reach the second floor, which is a dimly lit space surrounding the grand balustrades. The stair treads are original, protected now with coverings. Underneath, you can see scrapes in the wood, perhaps from feet hurrying to mysterious Freemason rituals. An array of doorways lead off the corridor, suggesting the abandoned building was once a hive of activity. Notice how the classical columns are repeated on this floor as if pointing the way to the temple above.

Once buzzing with Sanford's most successful businesses, this now-dingy corridor was trodden by the town's industry power players. Now, it has little original décor remaining, except for the sash windows. The building next door is the Temple Theatre, named after the Masonic temple. Still showing musicals today, it would have put on vaudeville and burlesque performances from the 1920s to the 1940s, when the Masonic temple was in full swing!

Inside one of the offices you can see cabinets thrown open and stacks of files mouldering on a shelf. But the glimpse of an ornate staircase through the doorway draws your eye ever upwards toward the temple – the building's crowning glory. See how the door frame subtly echoes the imposing form of a classical Greek column.

This dilapidated top floor space was probably used as an office after the Freemasons moved out in the 1980s. According to Leland Kent, several businesses occupied the vacant space, including an insurance firm, dance studio and a design company. One survivor, Nunnery’s Shoe Shop, still trades from the basement – clearly a successful business as it’s been there since the building first opened in the 1920s.

The perfect proportions of the staircase are visible from this top floor view. As master builders, order and proportion were at the heart of a Mason's trade, but these qualities also mirror the ethos of the organisation itself. Self-knowledge and living as moral citizens are said to be central aims of the society. Potential Freemasons must reportedly be male, aged at least 21, have a strong moral compass, good reputation and be financially secure, as well as believing in a supreme being.

The nature of this divinity has been the centre of conspiracy theory speculation. However, Freemasonry is a secular organisation, not a religion, though belief in some kind of spiritual being is required. This could be a particular god linked to a religion or simply an undefined creator force. Notice the ornately carved 19th-century piano on this third-floor landing, close to the temple’s entrance. Music is an important part of Freemason ceremonies and is sometimes specially composed for rituals.

A mysterious temple wouldn’t be complete without a secret tunnel. So, look up and there it is! According to local news station WRAL, this odd opening in the third-floor ceiling provides a secret access point to the roof. You reach a pole up to hook the trapdoor down, then climb up into the tunnel and crawl through to the roof. A suitably clandestine way of getting around the building…

Once echoing with the chants of Masonic rituals, this derelict meeting room is the heart of the temple. The Grand Master Mason would sit on the platform, framed by splendid classical Greek-style Ionic columns, with the various hierarchies of the lodge seated around the vast room. 

Here’s a closer look at the seat of power. The Grand Master of a Masonic lodge is elected annually to oversee the society's activities. According to urban legends, the Masons integrated into the equally conspiracy theory-rich Knights Templar. But there's no known contemporaneous link between the two groups and the original Knights Templar were said to have been wiped out in the 14th century. Or were they...

The Sanford temple was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, but it sadly fell into disrepair around the same time. However, at the end of 2020, Owls Nest Properties bought the building for $375,000 (£278,000), according to Leland Kent. Happily, the property investors intend to renovate the mysterious abandoned space.

This odd washroom was used for much more than cleaning hands or changing into ceremonial clothes. According to local news station WRAL, prospective Masons had to sit blindfolded in the wooden wardrobe-like box and wait to be brought out into the light by a member ‒ all part of the society's esoteric initiation rites, apparently.

This peculiar lever is an original feature of the Masonic temple. It was used to dim the lights in the main room and also in the washroom when initiates were waiting in the wardrobe. Light is a powerful symbol of Freemasonry. Allegorically, it signifies the divine spark of creation or moving from darkness (ignorance) into light (knowledge). Perhaps the lights were dimmed while the group lit candles to remind them of this belief.

Here’s the original basement coal chute that heated the building during its early days. Look up and you can see the underside of the glass mosaic entrance walkway, which allows natural light to stream into this underground space. The new owner has big ideas for the basement and a speakeasy bar is said to be planned for the space. Wonderfully, Nunnery's Shoe Shop, the business that’s been there since 1924, will continue to trade from the building.

So what's next for the abandoned temple? Nine apartments are planned for the top two floors, with retail space allocated on the floor below. As much historic architecture as possible will be preserved and the staircase wood will be restored to its original finish, the new owner told WRAL. Interestingly, although the Masons moved out in the 1980s, Sanford Lodge 151 never ceased to exist. It continues to meet just a couple of streets away.

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