ORGANIZE AND FRATERNIZE

The Masonic Grand Lodge of Texas, located in Waco and considered the oldest ongoing organization in the state, certainly lives up to the term “grand” in both history and architecture. The first known gathering of Texas fraternal brothers took place in the Republic of Texas in 1837 and was presided over by Sam Houston in the Senate Chamber. After moving headquarters to Waco in the early 1900s, the Texas Freemasons created a permanent home with the Grand Lodge, a superb limestone structure built in 1949 and designed by Texas architect Robert Leon White (who was also a Freemason). The impressive façade features various Masonic symbols carved around a soaring entryway flanked by two stately columns. The building creates a footprint covering 130,000 square feet and includes a museum where visitors may learn all about the history of Freemasonry in Texas. Also on view is the spectacular stained-glass window that once graced Waco’s original lodge of 1903. The window, almost fifty feet long, depicts all the symbols of the Freemasons including the curious “all-seeing-eye”. Perhaps even more curious, a 4,000 year old terra cotta cornerstone, a plaster death mask of Napoleon, and other oddities round out a fascinating collection of artifacts in the Grand Lodge’s main museum. Both self-guided and guided tours are available.