Howard Lodge No. 37 - Yreka, CA
N 41° 43.918 W 122° 38.227
10T E 530179 N 4620081
Howard Lodge No. 37 resides at the Masonic Hall Building on the corner of W. Miner and 3rd Streets in the historic district of downtown Yreka, CA.
Waymark Code: WMH4B4
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 05/20/2013
Views: 9
This historical marker hangs in front of the W.W. Powers Building on historic W Miner St. There are numerous older buildings along Miner Street that contain historical markers that relate the history of each building. This historic building's marker reads:
Masonic Hall Building
300-304 W. Miner St. Originally known as the Wetzel Lot, a brick building stood here in 1880 which housed the fire department -- Engine & Hose No. 1. A new building with a massive edifice was erected on the site in 1926 by four Masonic orders who sold shares at $50 each to finance the project. The lower level was designed for three business rental while the top floor catered to lodge activities. The Denny Bar Company (first chain store in California) occupied the building along with Klamath National Forest and the Electric Suplly Company. By 1982 Cooley and Pollard Hardware had purchased the entire ground level for the expansion of their business.
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I located a nice article on the history of the Masonic Hall building here. Also, from Howard Lodge No. 37's website, it relates its long history as a lodge:
Howard Lodge was chartered July 3, 1853, and at the time was known as Howard Lodge Number 96. Howard Lodge was named after William H. Howard, who was Grand Master at the time the Lodge was chartered. The fourth Master of Howard Lodge Number 96, Jonas W. Brown, was Grand Secretary and moved up through the line to become Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of California. At that time the lodge was chartered there were two Masonic Lodges in Yreka. St. John's Lodge Number 37 and Howard Lodge Number 96 who shared the lodge Hall on Miner Street. This Lodge Hall was destroyed by fire in 1871, and the two Lodges then met over the years in different locations on Miner Street. In 1919 the members of the two Lodges began talking about building a new hall. However, before the new hall was constructed, the two Lodges decided in 1924 to consolidate into one lodge. They chose the name Howard and the number 37 from St. John's Lodge to become Howard Lodge Number 37. The first Master of Howard Lodge Number 37 was Earl F. Ager, who was born in Ager, CA, near Hornbrook and later became a prominent member of the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors. Construction of the new lodge was finally begun in May of 1926 and the corner stone was laid in June of 1926. The building was completed in 1927. When the depression hit in the 1930's the lower portion of the building was sold to the business men occupying that portion to raise money to retire the debt on the lodge hall. The lodge has met continuously in this hall as constructed until the year 2000, when some updating was started which resulted in the installation of the present elevator and the remodeling of the kitchen. In addition to being an active lodge for the last 150 years and producing a Grand Master, Howard lodge has also produced a Grand Master of the State of Oregon as well as a California State Senator, and a Grand High Priest, Four Grand Commanders of the Grand Commandery of California and one Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of Oregon.
Yreka has a few websites devoted to preserving its rich history. Siskiyouhistory.org is a good place to start and breaks up the town's history into groups of years. Yrekapreservation.org contains some nice pictures of original homes and commercial buildings from yesteryear. Finally, Yrekahistory.blogspot.com is a good blog website which contains great stories and events of Yreka's past and all their articles have been archived.