1210-1216 Broad Street

BUILDINGS ASSOCIATED WITH FREEMASONS IN GREATER VICTORIA

ARCHITECTS AND BUILDERS

This Heritage Building at 1210-1216 Broad Street and 614-620 Trounce Alley was built in 1889 by architect Thomas Trounce (for whom Trounce Alley is named) for a banker named Alexander A. Green. It is listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places as the Green Block.

Here is a map showing the location of 1210-1216 Broad Street:

Here is a Google Street View image  of 1210-1216 Broad Street:

 

A Brief History of 1210-1216 Broad Street

This Heritage Building at 1210-1216 Broad Street and 614-620 Trounce Alley was built in 1889 by architect Thomas Trounce (for whom Trounce Alley is named) for a banker named Alexander A. Green.

Thomas Trounce and Alexander Green were both Freemasons, members of Victoria-Columbia Lodge, No.1, which met, and still meets, at the Victoria Masonic Temple, 650 Fisgard Street. Alexander Green’s house, Gyypswyck, on Moss Street, was built by another member of Victoria-Columbia Lodge, No.1, George Mesher Sr., whose son, George Charles Mesher, also a member of Victoria-Columbia Lodge, No.1, became a leading architect in early 20th century Victoria. Alexander Green‘s house, Gyypswyck, is now the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

Thomas Trounce also built a second building on the opposite side of Trounce Alley which was a mirror image of this building. The second building burned down in 1909 and the Central Building, which now stands on the site, was built on the site in 1911.

This building has had an interesting history.  It was home to the Y.M.C.A. between 1889 until about 1910. It was also used as Victoria’s first telephone exchange by Robert Burns McMicking and Edgar Crow Baker, who, like Alexander A. Green and Thomas Trounce, were also Freemasons. Both Robert Burns McMicking and Edgar Crow Baker had been Grand Masters of the Masonic Grand Lodge of B.C.

It became Victoria’s Stock Exchange between 1928 and 1930, which has led architectural historians to refer to this building as either the Green Block or the Exchange Building.

Here are links to some historic photos of the Green Block/Exchange Building:

• BC Archives photo C-08974 – Green’s Block, circa 1890. Photographer: Maynard
• BC Archives photo D-02227 – the Exchange Building circa 1920

It was listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places as the Green Block in 1995.

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