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When Berkeley was incorporated in 1878, Shattuck Avenue was already established as its "main street" at Berkeley Station. There was a hotel, a handful of shops, a social hall, a railroad station and a few homes. The blocks surrounding Berkeley Station soon became the civic center as well as the business center, linking Berkeley’s early shoreline community of Ocean View with the campus community nestled around the University of California. 

Berkeley's population remained small until the early 1900s when Berkeley experienced a dramatic increase in population. There were three primary reasons for this increase: the growth of the University of California which brought a corresponding increase to the population; the introduction of an electric rail system in 1891; and the 1906 Earthquake and Fire which drove about 20,000 San Franciscans to Berkeley within a few months.  

With the economic growth stimulated by the increased population, downtown was rebuilt and transformed. Between 1901 and 1916 nineteenth-century wood-frame buildings were replaced by impressive Classic Revival styled masonry buildings. Inspired by the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, Berkeley's downtown became an essay in Neo-classicism. First-floor shops were often combined with upper-story offices or hotel space in a classic three-part composition where the ground floor served as the base, the upper floors as the shaft, and the heavy decorated cornice as the capital. Windows were deeply recessed into the wall of the building and regularly spaced in symmetrical compositions. Classical decorative details were molded from stone, terra cotta, concrete, or sheet metal, and used as ornamentation around entries, windows, and cornices to emphasize the composition of the building. A variation on the Classical theme, the Mission Revival style was equally popular with its tile roofs, balconies, and square corner bays.  

Downtown Berkeley escaped the redevelopment that gutted so many California cities and because of this retains its early 20th century character. In 1991 the Downtown Berkeley Association and the City of Berkeley, in recognition of downtown's potential for economic revitalization through historic preservation received a Main Street Grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Under the auspices of the Main Street Project, Design Guidelines were adopted to preserve, and then enhance, downtown’s historic ambience. Since these guidelines have been adopted several projects have been completed that contribute to, and enhance its historic character. The goal of Berkeley's Downtown Design Guidelines is to protect downtown's special early 20th century character while providing design guidance for new businesses and housing.  

The Downtown Design Guidelines (available from Zoning) use the Masonic Temple building as its primary example of a Classic Revival Styled building. The four-story building of light buff-colored brick on a steel frame is divided vertically and horizontally into a classic three-part composition. The entrance to the former Temple is in the center of the Bancroft Way facade and is surrounded by carved gray granite with a stained glass Masonic square-and-compass emblem in the transom. There are stores on the first floor and elaborately decorated Masonic Temple meeting rooms above. With the declining popularity of fraternal organizations, the Berkeley lodges merged with the Albany Temple in 1970 and abandoned the downtown Berkeley temple building. 

Susan Cerny is author of Berkeley Landmarks and writes this in conjunction with the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.