Williamsburg Lodge No. 6 - Williamsburg, VA
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 37° 16.229 W 076° 41.924
18S E 349384 N 4126230
The Masonic Hall for Williamsburg, is situated within the Colonial Williamsburg resort on Francis Street and dates back to the 1930s, and the present lodge dates back to colonial times.
Waymark Code: WM82QQ
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 01/17/2010
Views: 14
In Williamsburg, in the section known as Colonial Williamsburg, stands a Masonic Hall on Francis Street, at the corner with Queen Street. This brick building is a Colonial style house with the Masonic emblem on the east side and a Masonic door knocker and sign at the front entrance.
In this hall meets Williamsburg Lodge No. 6. This lodge is an active lodge that is a regular lodge, but do dress in Colonial costume. They meet on the 2nd Monday of the month and the web site does invite visitors to Colonial Williamsburg who are Masons to 'drop by.' There is also a breakfast and book club meeting on the 4th Saturday of the month.
There is an extensive history of Williamsburg Masonic activity on the lodge's web site. It is not known when the present lodge was first founded. There is evidence that there was activity as early as the 1730s. Records in Fredericksburg Lodge #4 indicate that there was a visitor from Williamsburg several times between 1752 and 1753. A charter had been given to Williamsburg Lodge, but for some reason, does not exist today. The "new" charter was petitioned and received in 1773 and is today the oldest surviving Masonic charter in Virginia.
The lodge met in taverns in early times. In 1773, they built a wooden building at the corner of Francis and Queen Streets, about where the present structure stands, on land that was rented. It was in this building that the Grand Lodge of Virginia was started, in 1778, with John Blair, Jr., a Past Master of Williamsburg Lodge, presiding as the first Grand Master.
After the Revolutionary War, the lodge went into 'darkness' (closed) around 1790s, then again from 1802-11, and again from 1827-8 to 1848. They continued to meet, though not regularly, through the Civil War. The lodge was able to keep its original number, 6, and has been meeting regularly since. It met in several places in the city.
By 1910, the lodge desired to repurchase the building that they had traditionally met, with the hopes of restoring it. Careful measurements were made of the buildings and plans were drawn. However, the old wooden building was in such a state of disrepair that it had to be torn down. Some of the bricks from that building have been incorporated into the fireplace of the present building. The brick building now standing was built in 1931 on the site of the old building, with help from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and Rev. W.A.R. Goodwin, who was an affiliated member of the lodge and Rector of the Bruton Parish.
The hall is easy to see, and you can drive by it by car, since Francis Street open for traffic at all times, though it may be hard to park the car close by if you plan to visit it by car.
Web Site of Williamsburg Lodge #6:
(
visit link)