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. The brand started in that basement.
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 first set up shop. The contrast was intentional: a brand built on color, weirdness, and unapologetic joy, housed in a building designed to project permanence and dignity.
The shop now lives around the corner at The Wild Below, 120 N San Francisco St Unit J. Same downtown Flagstaff, same corgi energy, a storefront you can walk into.
Visit
The Wild Below is at 120 N San Francisco St Unit J, Flagstaff, AZ 86001. Downtown. Hours vary. Come say hi.
Written in the basement of a 1917 Masonic Temple: The Wild Below, 120 N San Francisco St Unit J, 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.