330 Auburn Avenue
Atlanta, GA 30303
Built 1937; Addition 1941
Atlanta businessman and civic leader, John Wesley Dobbs, spearheaded the building of the Prince Hall Masonic Grand Lodge. The lodge was completed in 1937 and served as a base in Atlanta for the Prince Hall Freemasons, a predominantly African American branch of the North American Freemasons. Later, the lodge also housed the offices of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Martin Luther King Jr.-led civil rights organization. The building was also the home of a Madam C.J. Walker Beauty Shoppe, and the studio for WERD, the nation’s first African American-owned and directed radio station, which began broadcasting in 1948. Currently, the nearly 80-year-old building is undergoing an extensive renovation thanks to funds from local investors. It will be turned into a 16,000 square-foot multi-use space.