Designed by the firm of Burnham and Root and built at the corner of Randolph and State Streets, the building rose 21 stories.

When the clock tower was removed from the 1885 Board of Trade Building in 1895, the Masonic Temple became the tallest in the city.

The building featured a central court ringed by nine floors of shops with offices above and meeting rooms for the Masons at the very top.

In 1939 the Masonic Temple was demolished, in part due to its poor internal services, but also due to the construction of the new State Street subway, which would have necessitated expensive foundation retrofitting.

A two-story "taxpayer" housing a Walgreens drug store was erected in its place, and the Joffrey Tower currently stands on the former site of this building.