The Clam Lake Masonic Lodge #331 was founded in 1876 in the village of Clam Lake (which was later renamed Cadillac). The lodge met in a series of buildings, and in the late 1880s began plans to construct their own building. In 1889, the Masons put together financing, combining guaranteed leases of sections of the planned building and the sale of $20,000 of bonds. They hired architect Sidney Osgood from Grand Rapids to design the building, and jointly contracted local builders Charles W. Dutton and John G. Mosser to construct it. Excavation work began in August 1889; exterior work was completed by November, and the first tenants occupied the building in February 1890.