Masonic Lodge No 852 A F & A M - Gladewater, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 32° 32.204 W 094° 56.644
15S E 317435 N 3601597
Charter was issued Dec 5, 1901 and constituted on Feb 27, 1902.
Waymark Code: WM10649
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 03/05/2019
Views: 2
Texas Gen Web "Most of the lodge records were lost in a fire in Sept 1928. The lodge was then located in the Ponder building located on the corner of Main and Pacific. This building was divided and also served as the meeting place of the town band, Knights of Pythias, and for a short time also housed the local chapter of the Klu Klux Klan.
The 1930's saw the lodge referred to as the Humble Lodge as several members worked for the Humble Oil Company and had come from Eureka. These men were responsible for keeping the lodge together during that time."
Marker Text:
On November 15, 1900, twenty master masons, many from Longview Masonic Lodge No. 404, presented a petition to form a separate lodge. On April 19, 1901, Grand Master Nat M. Washer issued the dispensation, and Daniel Washington Wood served as First Worshipful Master of the new lodge. It formally chartered in December 1901 with 29 members.
From 1901 to 1931, members met in James A. Ponder’s General Store, which also housed the Post Office, on the Northwest corner of Main and Pacific. During the Lodge’s formative years, members included prominent early businessmen, clergymen, professionals and civic leaders of Gladewater. Among them was Dr. Earl George McLaughlin, who opened the city’s first hospital and invented a medication during the influenza epidemic in 1918 that earned him national acclaim.
Sharing a common early history with the lodge is Chapter 831, order of the Eastern Star. Chartered in 1932, the group has long been active in its support of lodge projects and activities.
The lodge met for a time in a schoolhouse and in the Measles Hotel before building its own hall at this site. It first met here on July 1, 1940, and members formally dedicated the building in September of that year. They held meetings upstairs and leased the first floor space to a number of enterprises, including the Gladewater Daily Times-Tribune.
Lodge members have served the grand lodge of Texas as district deputy grand masters and actively supported Masonic projects. Locally, they contribute to many worthwhile community and educational programs, including annual scholarships. Today, Gladewater Lodge No. 852 serves as an integral part of the city’s future, as well as a reminder of its rich history.