I have some vacation coming up and am thinking of visiting the coolest Masonic sites in the United States. Of course Boston is on the list, as is D.C., and Alexandria, VA, but what about Masonry off the beaten path? King Hiram's Lodge in Provincetown, MA was chartered by Paul Revere. St. John's Lodge No. 1, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire is the oldest continuously operating lodge in the United States. Hiram Lodge in Franklin, TN, sports graffiti from occupying Union soldiers during the Civil War. The Masonic Center in Racine, MN has a ghost, so too does the Lodge in Kent, OH.
But certainly this is only scratching the surface. Every jurisdiction must have a lodge that is unique, odd, bizarre, or just plain cool.
Any suggestions? I would be grateful for your input.
5 comments:
The Grand Lodge of New York is definitely worth a tour (I'd love to sit in a meeting in any one of those rooms), and while you're in New York you can visit Federal Hall National Memorial in the financial district, where they have the Bible belonging to St. John's Lodge No. 1 - AKA the George Washington Inaugural Bible. (At least, it was there when I visited last September and I got the impression it was on long-term loan.)
They also have the balcony flagstone upon which Washington stood as he was sworn in, and addressed the crowd for the first time as president. (Federal Hall was torn down in 1812, and the current building on the site was a customs house.) The other exhibits there are related to revolutionary/early U.S. history and while not strictly Masonic, are interesting.
I hope there are lots more responses to this post, I love lists like this!
Brother,
You need to come north to Nova Scotia, Canada. We have a whole buried treasure with ties to the Templars and masonry. http://www.oakislandtreasure.co.uk/
I would love to start digging up Oak Island, but I don't think they will let me take the giant solid gold statue of Ramses II as carry-on.
You don't have to go all the way to Provincetown to visit a lodge charted by Paul Revere: Philanthropic Lodge F&AM, in Marblehead, Mass, was so chartered. Meeting every third Tuesday except July and August.
Thanks, Chris - old Paul was pretty active, wasn't he?
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