On December 5, 1875, Masons in Meagher County chartered Valley Lodge No. 21 (A.F. & A.M.) in Centerville, a farming community just north of present-day Townsend. The lodge moved to Townsend in 1884, shortly after the Northern Pacific Railroad platted the town. From 1884 to 1947 the Masons met in rented spaces, first over a store and then in the International Order of Odd Fellows Hall. U.S. entry into World War II delayed plans to construct their own building, and in January 1942 the lodge decided to invest money saved for the building in defense bonds because it believed maintaining "American Liberty" was more important than considering its own comforts and pleasures. After the war, Helena architect Herbert Jacobson designed the lodge in the Minimal Traditional style, a simple style more common to residences than public buildings that grew out of the need for inexpensive but well-built homes. Although lacking the ornamentation seen on earlier Masonic temples, the design incorporated a cornerstone with the Masonic symbol and a second-story, windowless room where rituals could be performed away from the public eye. Contractors working with Masonic volunteers completed the building for $30,000 using up-to-date materials that exemplified postwar vernacular architecture, including asbestos shingles on the exterior and vertical knotty pine tongue-and-groove wainscoting and fiberboard and plywood paneling on the interior. Dedicated in 1948, the temple served Lodge 21 until 2017.