Freemasonry or Masonry consists of fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local fraternities of stonemasons, which from the end of the fourteenth century regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities and clients. The degrees of Freemasonry retain the three grades of medieval craft guilds, those of Apprentice, Journeyman or fellow, and Master Mason. The candidate of these three degrees is progressively taught the meanings of the symbols of Freemasonry, and entrusted with grips, signs and words to signify to other members that he has been so initiated. The initiations are part allegorical morality play and part lecture. The three degrees are offered by Craft Freemasonry. Members of these organisations are known as Freemasons or Masons. There are additional degrees, which vary with locality and jurisdiction, and are usually administered by their own bodies.
A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered by a Grand Lodge, but is subject to its direction only in enforcing the published constitution of the jurisdiction. By exception the three surviving lodges that formed the world's first known grand lodge in London have the unique privilege to operate as time immemorial, i.e., without such warrant; only one other lodge operates without a warrant – the Grand Stewards' Lodge in London, although it is not also entitled to the "time immemorial" title. A Freemason is generally entitled to visit any lodge in any jurisdiction in amity with his own. In some jurisdictions this privilege is restricted to Master Masons. He is first usually required to check, and certify, the regularity of the relationship of the Lodge – and be able to satisfy that Lodge of his regularity of membership. Freemasons gather together as a Lodge to work the three basic Degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master Mason.
Great Queen Street is a street in the West End of central London in England. It is a continuation of Long Acre from Drury Lane to Kingsway. It runs from 1 to 44 along the north side, east to west, and 45 to about 80 along the south side, west to east. The street straddles and connects the Covent Garden and Holborn districts and is in the London Borough of Camden. It is numbered B402.
Twickenham Historic District was the first historic district designated in Huntsville, Alabama, USA. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 4, 1973, with a boundary increase on May 26, 2015. The name derives from an early name for the town of Huntsville, named after Twickenham, England, by LeRoy Pope. It features homes in the Federal and Greek Revival architectural styles introduced to the city by Virginia-born architect George Steele about 1818, and contains the most dense concentration of antebellum homes in Alabama. The 1819 Weeden House Museum, home of female artist and poet Maria Howard Weeden, is open to the public, as are several others in the district.
Helion Lodge #1 is a Masonic lodge in Huntsville, Alabama. It is the oldest lodge of Freemasons in the state. According to Grand Historian Joseph Abram Jackson's Masonry in Alabama, it is "the birthplace of Freemasonry in Alabama." Helion Lodge is also the common name for the building, built in 1911, where the lodge meets.
The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Alabama, commonly called the Grand Lodge of Alabama, is one of two Masonic grand lodges in the state of Alabama
The Masonic Hall, also known as the Masonic Temple and Mendocino Lodge No. 179, is a historic Masonic building located at 10500 Lansing Street in Mendocino, California.
The Tait–Ervin House, also known as Countryside, is a historic plantation house near Camden, Alabama. The two-story wood-frame house was built in 1855 for Robert Tait by a builder named Henry Cook. Robert was the grandson of Charles Tait, a United States Senator from Georgia. The plantation was acquired after the American Civil War by Robert Tait's sister, Sarah Asbury Tait Ervin, and her husband, Dr. Robert Hugh Ervin. Dr. Ervin served in both houses of the Alabama Legislature and was elected President Pro Tem of the state senate in 1872. The house remained in the Ervin family until 1991, when it was sold to the Phillipi family. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 24, 1995.
The Masonic Temple is a historic Masonic building in Philadelphia. Located at 1 North Broad Street, directly across from Philadelphia City Hall, it serves as the headquarters of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, Free and Accepted Masons. The Temple features the Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania, and receives thousands of visitors every year to view the ornate structure, which includes seven lodge rooms, where today a number of Philadelphia lodges and the Grand Lodge conduct their meetings.
The Crane Hill Masonic Lodge is a historical Masonic building in Crane Hill, Alabama. Built in 1904, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting.
The Camden Masonic Temple, also known as Mount Zion Lodge #211, is a historic Masonic Lodge located at Camden, Carroll County, Indiana. It was built in 1902, and is a three-story Romanesque Revival style brick and limestone building. It was used historically as a meeting hall, as a specialty store, as a department store, as a professional building, and as a multiple dwelling.
The current Indianapolis Masonic Temple, also known as Indiana Freemasons Hall, is a historic Masonic Temple located at Indianapolis, Indiana. Construction was begun in 1908, and the building was dedicated in May 1909. It is an eight-story, Classical Revival style cubic form building faced in Indiana limestone. The building features rows of engaged Ionic order columns. It was jointly financed by the Indianapolis Masonic Temple Association and the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Indiana, and was designed by the distinguished Indianapolis architectural firm of Rubush and Hunter.
Mount Zion Lodge Masonic Temple is a historic Masonic lodge building located at 304 E. Main St. in West Plains, Howell County, Missouri. It was designed by architect Rudolph Zerse Gill and built in 1933. The one-story building on a raised basement is an "austere" Classical Revival building with a projecting temple front with Tuscan orderpilasters. It measures approximately 50 feet by 80 feet.
The St. Stephens Courthouse, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Washington County Courthouse and also known as the St. Stephens Masonic Lodge, is a historic former courthouse building in St. Stephens, Alabama. The Alabama Legislature authorized construction of the building in 1853 to serve as headquarters for the government of Washington County. The building was completed in 1854 and served as the county courthouse until 1907, when the county seat was moved to Chatom. It served a variety of purposes after that, until being restored in 2000 by the St. Stephens Historical Commission for use as a visitor center and local history museum.
The Masonic Hall is a grade II listed building on Monk Street in Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was designed by architect George Vaughan Maddox. The building is believed to mark the site of Monk's Gate, part of the original defences of the town of Monmouth. Before its 1846 conversion to the Masonic Hall, the building served as the Monk Street Theatre. After more than 150 years of housing the Loyal Monmouth Lodge No. 457, the Masonic Hall sustained fire and smoke damage from suspected arson. The Lodge of Freemasons housed in the building is the oldest surviving Masonic Lodge in Monmouthshire.
Crowther Masonic Hall or Freemasons' Hall in Kollam is a part of the Grand Lodge of India and it was a meeting place for many Masonic Lodges in the Quilon(Kollam) area. It is near Kochupilamoodu in Kollam city and has been a Masonic meeting place since 1806. The building is now considered as a historic monument of Freemasonry activities in ancient Travancore area.
