Gainesville Masonic Lodge #41 - Gainesville, FL
N 29° 39.227 W 082° 19.490
17R E 371775 N 3281156
The Gainesville Masonic Lodge #41 is located on North Main Street in Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Waymark Code: WM351E
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 02/10/2008
Views: 43
According to
Wikipedia:
The Masonic Order Lodge #41 is a historic site in Gainesville, Florida, United States, located at 215 North Main Street. On May 29, 1998, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The cornerstone on the structure's northeast corner states that it was chartered on January 15, 1857, thus indicating it is one of the oldest structures in Gainesville. The event was covered by local newspapers, The Gainesville Sun and The Gainesville Elevator. The Elevator reported "the afternoon was virtually a holiday for the entire city."
At the time Lodge #41 was built, The Grand Lodge was headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida. The petition for the charter was made by eighteen Masons who where the first members of Gainesville Lodge. From 1857 to 1908 lodge meetings where held in different locations around Gainesville. One of these locations is where the downtown Gainesville fire station is today.
During World War II the Gainesville lodge was the only lodge known to have opened its doors for the housing of servicemen. Soldiers that had a weekend pass would travel to Gainesville from Camp Blanding, which is just outside of Lawtey, Florida. Two brothers from the lodge would volunteer to take the Saturday night shift. The next morning the "kitchen crew" would cook a hearty breakfast for the servicemen to enjoy before going back to base. At one point occupancy reached 276 in one night. The lodge served 10,000 servicemen representing all the states over a 77 week period.