Freemasonry reached the height of its popularity in the 1920s. During that era Freemasons built monumental concert halls, libraries, and museums in cities across the nation. The Rhode Island Freemasons commissioned noted architects Osgood & Osgood to design the Veterans Memorial Auditorium as a Grand Masonic complex in 1927. The Great Depression halted construction and the project lay dormant for over a decade. The State of Rhode Island took over the project in the 1940s; however World War II further delayed its completion.
