The building at 2 E Aspen Avenue in downtown Flagstaff has been standing for over a century. It went up in 1917, during a period when Flagstaff was transforming from a rough railroad town into something more permanent.
The Masons built it. Today, the basement belongs to us.
The Building
The Temple was constructed in 1917 by Flagstaff's Masonic Lodge. Masonic lodges built substantial buildings in small Western towns during this era, partly as meeting halls, partly as statements of civic permanence. When a fraternal organization puts up a stone and brick building in a town that's barely 35 years old, they're saying: we're staying.
The building sits at the intersection of Aspen Avenue and San Francisco Street, one of the most central locations in downtown Flagstaff. Heritage Square is steps away. Route 66 runs one block south. The Weatherford Hotel, which opened in 1900, stands a few blocks east.
1917 in Flagstaff
To understand the building, you need to understand the town in 1917. Flagstaff had been incorporated for just 23 years. The lumber industry was still the economic backbone. The railroad was the primary connection to the outside world. Route 66 wouldn't be designated for another nine years.
The town was growing, but it was still small. The population was a few thousand. Buildings like the Temple were part of a civic infrastructure boom that also included the train depot and the early commercial buildings along what would become Route 66.
The Underground
The basement level of the Temple is where Weird & Wild West set up shop. The Underground at The Temple is the name, and it's meant literally: you walk into a historic building, go downstairs, and find a space filled with original Arizona art, desert-themed merch, and a corgi who takes her greeting duties seriously.
The contrast is intentional. A brand built on color, weirdness, and unapologetic joy, housed in the basement of a building that was designed to project permanence and dignity. The building provides the foundation. We provide the disco balls.
Visit
The Underground at The Temple is at 2 E Aspen Ave, Flagstaff, AZ 86001. Downtown. Steps from Route 66 and Heritage Square. Come see what a 1917 basement looks like when an artist and a corgi move in.
Written in the basement of a 1917 Masonic Temple: The Underground at The Temple, 2 E Aspen Ave, Flagstaff, AZ 86001. Every design mentioned above is an original by Brigitte De Marco of Prickle & Pine Designs, printed to order in 2–5 business days and shipped free.