The Freemasons have long been a mysterious force in both American and European history. The group in New York City however has become more open to inquisitive eyes in the last decade, reaching out for new members and becoming more active in community service. If you are looking for a little bit of Freemasonry in your explorations, there are some interesting locations you can visit in the city.

1. Grand Lodge of Masons

At 23rd Street and 6th Avenue sits the Grand Lodge of Masons, an otherwise ordinary looking New York City Building which replaced an earlier Grand Lodge built by Napoleon Le Brun in French Second Empire style. This current Grand Lodge has about a dozen rooms which contain no windows at all, and where meetings for 60 some number of lodges still take place. Despite the gilded appearance, each ornate room is made of painted plaster, from imitation stone to reliefs to frescoes. Check out more photographs from inside the Grand Lodge of Masons here.

Here is an image of the now lost original Grand Lodge:

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