Scottish Rite Cathedral (Images of America)

The Scottish Rite Cathedral, easily the most prominent edifice in Lawrence County, overlooks the city below and consummated the dream of 6,000 dedicated Masons in 1925. Home to nearly a dozen Masonic organizations, the building contained the largest stage between New York and Chicago and the earliest cantilevered balcony in Pennsylvania. The 2,800-seat auditorium hosted notable performers like Johnny Cash, Benny Goodman, Reba McEntire, Jerry Seinfeld, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Its kitchen and dining rooms served meals to more than 1,800 at various times. Unbelievably, the construction of the Scottish Rite Cathedral required 2,000,000 common bricks and 600,000 face bricks, and the insurance company appraised the building at a replacement value of more than $65 million.

Authors Rob Cummings and Dale Perelman are 33rd degree Masons who have served on the boards of the Cathedral Foundation and the Dyslexia Learning Center of Western Pennsylvania.