TOMPKINS Lodge 471, #514 Bay Street at Sands Street, is a classical-style Masonic Temple that has not been repurposed as so many Masonic halls around towns have been, as it’s still the site of monthly meetings held by the fraternal organization. The Masons are a fraternal society tracing their history back to a stonemasons’ guild in medieval England, with a history of doing philanthropic and community work; they have counted George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Clark Gable, Harry Houdini, and Count Basie among their membership. The Masonic symbol of the architect’s square and compass, accompanied by the letter “G” for God (not Geometry as I had originally thought) can be seen at the roofline as well as on the front entrance doors.
The Masons commissioned the new lodge in 1901 and it opened in November 1902, designed by the Harry Spruck and Sons firm employing British-American architect Edward A. Sargent (1842-1914), a Mason himself, at Bay and what was then still called Sand Street. Sargent, little remarked upon today, designed numerous buildings in and around New York City inclusing numerous residences in the St. George/New Brighton historic district. We visited many of them on a January 2009 tour of St. George by myself and author/artist Cynthia Von Buhler, who was then living in the area. Sargent also designed Brooklyn’s Cuyler Presbyterian Church and the 9th Regiment Armory on 14th Street Manhattan (razed in 1969). His most famed work is likely PS 15 on St. Paul’s Avenue a short distance away.
The village of Tompkinsville was founded by a future Vice President, Daniel D. Tompkins (1774-1825) in 1815, while he was the Governor of New York State. He established a ferry service to Manhattan in 1817, from the foot of Victory Boulevard at the bay, and founded the Richmond Turnpike Company as an expedited means for wagons to travel to Philadelphia and elsewhere on the East Coast; the turnpike was renamed Victory Boulevard in 1918. Tompkins was elected Vice President on a ticket with James Monroe in 1816, and served two terms. He died here in Tompkinsville just 3 months after leaving office and is buried in St. Mark’s Churchyard on 2nd Avenue and East 10th Street in Manhattan; Tompkins Square Park also bears his name, as well as Tompkins Avenues in Staten Island and Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
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10/7/25
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This used to be the Stapleton Post Office before it was moved to Tompkins Avenue. It may have been fine for foot routes, but over time there wasn’t enough parking for our vehicles.
The building exterior doubled as the “School of Rock” in the 2003 Jack Black film of the same name.
That was filmed at the St George Theater
The interiors were filmed at the St. George Theatre. As mentioned above, the exterior of Jack Black’s school was a shot of the old Stapleton Post Office.