Dominion House (Masonic Orphan Home)

Built in 1923 by the Masonic Temple in Guthrie, OK. In 1922 there were 106 children and 15 adults housed at the Masonic State Convention Hall (the site of the current Scottish Rite Temple). They remained there for 13 months until the new and permanent facility could be constructed. In October 1923, 66 boys and 48 girls, 21 men and 5 women were moved to the newly built Masonic Home. The Masonic Grand Lodge then began building a home for the aged, which occurred and the adult residents were moved there in 1927. As you can see, the children were not all boys, nor were they all orphans, as some people tend to think. This was a difficult time in our history with the depression, etc., and many families simply could not take care of their large families. At one time there were as many as 165 residents! The facility was closed in 1977 when there were only six children housed there. The above information was taken from the Logan County, OK History, Volume II.

Some children in the home's care probably died of illnesses, or perhaps accidents in the swimming pool. It was reported by some that there were some graves in the backyard, seen there when the property was abandoned. Another yarn tells the sad tale of a cruel headmistress who beat to death a 6 year old, and probably 4 other boys and buried them in the basement. Stories abound about this old Orphanage. Including the cruel headmistress, another worker who may have committed suicide by hanging at the tower, & many unexplained child deaths; although no evidence can be found for any of these myths.

It remained in operation under the Oklahoma Foster Care System until 1978 when it was abandoned. In In 2000 it was purchased by a local man who restored the building & grounds. This expansive, colonial style red brick building with a bell tower in the middle is now used for not only private residences of the owners, but also private office space of one of the owners, and another owner has weddings and events. The children's home's indoor pool was filled in to transform the area into an indoor chapel. While some of the residential wings were torn down to make way for garden space, the west wing which is the main part of the old institution is in grand shape. Statues of children decorate the walkways through the flowerbeds on the grounds.