The Prince Hall Free and Accepted Masons and Eastern Stars of the District of Columbia has won the right to retain ownership of its historic location in the District’s U Street corridor, a neighborhood once known as the hub of Black business, arts, and culture.
The organization, through its charity, the Prince Hall Free and Accepted Masons and Order of the Eastern Stars Educational Charitable Foundation, received approval from the D.C. Council to retain its tax-exempt status of its building, located at 10th and U..
The temple’s tax-exempt status was at risk due to a name change and required reapplication. In 2022, the former Prince Hall Freemason and Eastern Star Charitable Foundation became the Prince Hall Free & Accepted Mason and the Order of the Eastern Star Charitable Educational Foundation (PHFAMOESCEF).
“In 2022, we at the foundation wanted to keep the tax exemption, but when we changed the name, the exemption did not come with that,
Marquis McCants, president and CEO of Prince Hall, told the Washington Informer.
The Foundation leaders had to then reapply for a tax exemption with assistance from D.C. Council member Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1). They applied for the exemption in 2024 and reintroduced it this year.
The neighborhood, which once had over 200 Black-owned businesses, has gone through significant gentrification in the past decade, forcing out Black residents and erasing the vibrant history and culture of what was once a self-sustaining Black community.
Founded in 1825 by both enslaved and free Black people, Prince Hall Masonic Temple became the meeting place of the nation’s first and largest Black fraternity. The group purchased the lot on U Street and built the temple in 1929. The building once housed a restaurant, a bowling alley, and a ballroom, and rented office space to Black businesses.
Glenn Ruffin, the Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Prince Hall Masons, said “the U Street Building has a historic value to Black people.”
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