McNear: Jensen Albertson’s Time and the Maiden took 7 years to carve

The Masonic Hall on Lansing Street in Mendocino, Calif., in around 1940. Built in 1866, the building housed Mendocino Lodge No. 179, which is believed to be the oldest fraternal body in continuous existence on the Mendocino coast.

Built in 1866, Mendocino’s Masonic Hall on Lansing Street has been home to many businesses and organizations. In March 1865, a group of Masons living in Mendocino met with the purpose of forming a lodge on the coast. The Mendocino Lodge No. 179 formed in October and is believed to be the oldest fraternal body in continuous existence on the Mendocino coast.

The lodge commissioned Erick Jensen Albertson and John Gschwend to construct the Lansing Street building. William Heeser donated the land. The pair used local redwood in the construction, including in the carving of the Time and the Maiden statue.