The Khiva Temple was organized in 1920 by the Shriners of the panhandle and about the time the old building was torn down in 1925 for the Oliver-Eakle building the Masons moved to this structure. Ornamental trim is executed in terracotta including the giant order and Masonic symbols in the parapet and in the spandrels between the pilasters.
A three-story brick-clad fraternal lodge building in a generally rectangular plan with a symmetrical composition and Renaissance derived ornamentation. The front elevation includes slightly advancing end pavilions. The base is rusticated, with arched openings in the recessed central pavilion, there is a two-story superstruc ture articulated by giant pilasters in the central pavilion and on the ends, and the design is termin ated by a projecting cornice beneath a parapet. Ornamental trim is executed in terra cotta including the giant order and Masonic symbols in the parapet and in the spandrels between the pilasters.
Designed by the Herbert M. Greene Company, important Dallas architects who are test known for
their department stores and other commercial designs, and built by the Fred Bone Company in 1924 for the
Masonic Temple, also known as the Khiva Temple. The first Masonic lodge in Amarillo, the Blue Lodge -731, Ancient True and Accepted Masons, which later became known simply as the Amarillo lodge, met at the Opera House in 1892. In 1895, the Masonic Hall moved to 600 South Polk above the Nobles-Callaway
Grocery in a ramshackle wood-frame building with a curious gambrel roof. The Khiva Temple was organ ized in 1920 by the Shriners of the panhandle and about the time the old building was torn down in 1925 for the Oliver-Eakle building the Masons moved to the present structure.
An excellent example of its type by an important Texas architect which represents in its location and design the civic commitment of the Masons. Although not facing the courthouse square directly, this building enhanced its neighborhood and suggested possibilities for a civic center in Amarillo that have not been realized to this day. Instead of a park or another monumental building, the Masonic Temple (and the County Courthouse) face an inappropriately located motel. Eligible for the National Register. Source: Amarillo Historic Building Survey, Charles Hall Page and Associates, Inc. March ,1981.