In 1891 Fremont, founded as a separate entity, was annexed to the City of Seattle and became a neighborhood. In September 1892 thirteen members of the Masons group met at Fremont Hall to petition for a new lodge, to be known as Doric Lodge. The Grand Lodge of Washington concurred, and a charter was granted in June 1893.
The new lodge met in Fremont Hall (3400 block of Fremont Ave) at first, but as they grew in numbers they sought out a permanent space. They purchased land in the 3500 block of Fremont Avenue and designed the Doric Temple, completing construction in 1909. Their meeting room was on the second floor with ground-floor spaces for commercial tenants, whose lease payments helped support the Lodge. The first businesses in the spaces were a hardware store and a funeral home. Jacob Bleitz of the funeral home, later moved to the south side of the Fremont Bridge where his former building still stands today, now modified to be an office building.
To find the Doric Lodge, start at the Lenin statue and walk northeast on the same block, to where the Doric Lodge entrance is facing North 36th Street.