Hanging in front of the Western Star Masonic Lodge No. 2 is a historical placard that describes the Great Fire of 1853 that destroyed the business section part of town. This placard reads:
WESTERN STAR LODGE NO. 2
The oldest Masonic lodge in the State of California. Chartered by the most worshipful Grand lodge of Missouri on the 10th of May 1848.
This building was dedicated on Saint John's day, the 27th of December, 1854 and has been in continuous use ever since.
After the "Great Fire of June 14th 1853" when most of the City of Shasta was destroyed, the lodge lost all of its possessions, save its Missouri charter, and continued to meet in the upper floor of Dr. Benjamin Shurtleff's home which stood on a hill, west of town from 1851 to 1967 when it was lost to fire.
On the 4th of December, 1854, the lodge trustees purchased the upper floor of this building, the street level being the Norton & Tucker general merchandise. In 1857 the lodge acquired ownership of the entire building.
The Western Star Masonic Hall Association Inc., owns and maintains this property and also a cemetery founded 1864, The Shasta Masonic Cemetery, located at 11471 Mule Town Road, southwest of town.
Occupied 1854
California Historical Marker No. 77 located also mentions the Fire of 1853 on its plaque and reads:
I have been unable to find out online what caused this fire in 1853. I've read online that there was a prior fire in 1852 that also caused much damage. After both fires, when the town rebuilt its buildings with brick, they also attached large metal doors and window covers to help prevent futures fires from devastating the town. The Masonic Lodge as well as a few other building still survive with these metal doors and window covers.