Lodge Southern Cross #44 AF & AM
Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon

How Vancouver Lodges Came to Be 1

by R.W.Bro. James G. Bennie

It’s simple logic that Masonic Lodges start for a reason. In Vancouver, there are several different reasons as you soon will see. And it’s all because of the Americans.

When yellow rocks were discovered on the bars of the Fraser in 1858, gold-bugs from California crossed the line, and there were fears by the British government that the Americans would take our land. So, a British colonial government was quickly created for British Columbia, with Fort Langley as the capital. However, opposing political forces got in the way and the capital was moved to New Westminster the following year. The arrival of the Royal Engineers to build roads and bridges sparked a growth in the Royal City that it became large enough to support a Masonic Lodge. A Past Provincial Superintendent of Works from the province of Cheshire named Henry Holbrook led efforts to form Union No. 1201 under the Grand Lodge of England, which was instituted June 24 1861.

A few little settlements now popped up in the Lower Mainland - there was no Vancouver yet - and one of them happened to be around a little sawmill on the North Shore, a few kilometres east of the current downtown North Vancouver. It was called Moodyville, after mill-owner Sewell Moody. Some employees of the mill joined the Craft in the nearest spot - New Westminster. But they ran afoul of Henry Holbrook, who besides being the city mayor and later an MLA, was a bit of an autocrat. One of Holbrook’s buddies petitioned the lodge and was initiated. The Moodyville members received no notice of this, and their objection was formally rebuffed of a meeting of the District Grand Lodge - which was chaired by Holbrook. They decided they’d had enough of him. They also had enough of conditions to get to lodge - first, by boat across the Inlet, then along a muddy trial called the Douglas Road, interrupted by bogs covered with fabric. So, they formed their own lodge, and one under a different jurisdiction than Holbrook’s. So it was Mt. Hermon No. 491 under the Grand Lodge of Scotland was instituted on January 15, 1869. It became No. 7 when the Grand Lodge of B.C. was formed in 1871. Union Lodge didn’t join because of Holbrook’s opposition. Then the few lodge members simply decided to ignore him, joined the Grand Lodge as No. 9 the following year, and saw Holbrook expelled for Unmasonic Conduct after he threw a hissy fit in open lodge.

Moodyville was never very big and neither was Mt. Hermon Lodge. However, across Burrard Inlet, land speculation was wild as the CPR hinted it would build a line all the way to the townsite of Granville. People moved in. Mt. Hermon decided it had a better future on the other side of the water, and moved to the newly-named Vancouver in early 1886. The railway arrived the following year and with it came Masons from Manitoba and Ontario who affiliated with the Lodge. The problem was they were unfamiliar with the American ritual used by Mt. Hermon, being used to the work of the Grand Lodge of Canada in Ontario. So in April 1888, 35 Masons petitioned the Grand Master to form a new lodge, and two months later Cascade No. 12 was instituted.

Real estate agents continued to do booming business, cutting deals as they cleared their acreage for new homes. The city’s first suburb was the Mount Pleasant area, thanks partly to a street railway built up Main Street by developers. Masons in the area decided they didn’t want to take the streetcar way far away downtown, so they petitioned the Grand Master for their own lodge. He said no. They went over his head to Grand Lodge. They said yes. So it was Acacia No. 22 was instituted in July 1893. It remained in Mt. Pleasant for seven more years, then moved to the Masonic Temple downtown.

The city’s population continued to grow, and among the newcomers were a number of Australians. Several of them were Masons and the situation was much like the founding of Cascade Lodge - they wanted to use the ritual and customs of their home jurisdictions. This posed a bit of a problem as Grand Lodge may still have been smarting over periodic and acrimonious battles over ritual and a decision had finally been reached that there would be three rituals in B.C... and none were from Australia. No matter. J. J. Miller managed to convince the Grand Master to make a special exception with some now-unspecified changes to conform to the Canadian work of Cascade.

As for Cascade, it continued to boom and had 302 members by the end of 1907. There was no hope for many qualified new Masons to ever assume office, so a daughter Lodge called Western Gate No. 48 was instituted in December that year.

Kilwinning No. 59 was the city’s next lodge, and born of a desire for a lodge to serve the Grandview District. Many of the people living there were Scots and Bro. Joe Lyon, who was from Kilwinning No. 0 in Scotland, convinced the others to name it after his historic Mother Lodge. It was instituted in 1910. Oddly enough, Kilwinning never met in Grandview; it had lots for a Hall but couldn’t raise the money to build anything. And its members never pushed to use a Scottish ritual; as the first Master was from Ontario, it used the Canadian work.

The area around Central Park, just east of the Collingwood District had built up, and this was the reason behind the creation of Park No. 63 in November, 1911.

Plantagenet No. 65 was instituted three months later. Almost a quarter of its Charter members were from the same area in eastern Ontario, and gathered together by a Past District Deputy for Eastern District, John O. Smith. In his honour the lodge was named for his Mother Lodge, Plantagenet No. 186 in Plantagenet, Ontario.

Melrose No. 67 followed a month later in March 1912. It was set up thanks to a number of Masons who had moved into Vancouver and didn’t belong to Lodges. Two months later, Vancouver No. 68 was instituted, due to Mt. Hermon Lodge reaching a point where a split became necessary, with 410 members at the end of 1912.

Other areas of what was then the municipality of South Vancouver started becoming settled. The oldest area was Eburne, which was farm country on both sides of the Fraser near what’s now the Arthur Laing Bridge as far back as the 1860s. Mt. Lebanon No. 72 was instituted in 1913, supposedly on the Sea Island side of the water then later moving to the Marpole side in 1918, but the minutes don’t reflect this.

Maple Leaf No. 74 and Composite No. 76 followed later that year - Maple Leaf to serve the Little Mountain District on Main near 30th, and Composite for the Cedar Cottage area on Victoria Drive north of Kingsway. Zion No. 77 followed in early 1914 for Masons who lived in the Kerrisdale area.

Despite many men going off to war, there were still a number of Masons who didn’t belong to Vancouver lodges. Some of them formed St. James No. 80 in 1915, others founded Prince Arthur No. 82 the following year to meet not far from the present Hall at 8th near Granville.

When the war ended, a flood of Masons and petitioners forced the creation of more new lodges. The first was Empire No. 85 in November 1919. While its first Master and D.C. were from Lodge Southern Cross, the lodge adopted the Canadian work, though there were Australian elements in it into World War Two - Tom McKirdy says he was the last candidate to be put through before the lodge adopted the Ontario ritual. Progress No. 87 followed three months later, then University No. 91 formed as a lodge for the UBC District.

The war victory was finally marked by a lodge in 1921, which was called Victory No. 94. It adopted the Canadian work, but an early motion of the lodge also required all candidates to memorise the working tools of the previous degree before advancement; something found in some Ontario lodges of the day, apparently.

The Grandview District finally got its lodge when Grandview No. 96 was formed in March 1921, building a Hall on the lots that Kilwinning had sold to them through Southern Cross’s J. J. Miller, who belonged to all three lodges. Despite J. J.’s influence many members came from Cascade No. 12.

Mt. Pleasant got a lodge again when Vimy No. 97 was instituted the same month, with a number of Plantagenet members actively involved, including the first Master and J.W. A P.M. of Plantagenet Lodge was the founding Master of the next Lodge, Trinity No. 98 later that same year. It gathered together Masons living in the South Hill District near Fraser and 50th, some of whom were members of Composite.

There were several Masons in Vancouver at the time who were used to the Emulation work of England. They decided to form an Emulation lodge, though the bulk of the members were actually members of lodges back home in Ontario. Thus the Prince of Wales No. 100 was instituted in 1922, sharing space above a funeral parlour with Prince Arthur Lodge.

Now several areas of the city were getting so populated that Masons preferred a lodge in their district which used the ritual they were familiar with. As Vimy used the Canadian work, Mt. Moriah No. 102 was formed in Mt. Pleasant to use the American ritual. Next followed Unity No. 106 in early 1923. Grandview had become so large that a daughter lodge was created - but not just any kind of daughter lodge. J. J. Miller dreamed of an education lodge so a programme of speakers was set up in advance for each year with a huge banquet for the speakers to cap the year. J. J. also brought his Australian festive board customs to the lodge, though it used the Canadian work except for a piece of the installation J. J. especially wrote for the investiture of the Board of General Purpose reps and the appointment of four Stewards as Southern Cross had in the early days.

Now not everyone can get to a night-time meeting due to their profession. Meridian No. 108 formed for this reason, and met Thursdays around the noon hour after being instituted in May 1923, with lunch to follow at the Hotel Vancouver. Many of the lodge members were musicians or connected with theatres or theatrical promotions - though the first D.C. was a lawyer who later became Grand Master. The Meridian Lodge Orchestra was well-known in Masonic circles for several decades.

Gothic No. 111 followed in 1925 to provide the Cedar Cottage area with an American work lodge. It didn’t last long as infighting resulted in the warrant being lifted in 1928.

Masons working in the lumber industry got together to form a lodge and thus Lions Gate No. 115 was begun in 1927. The lodge still has its annual Loggers’ Night.

Kerrisdale No. 117 and Adoniram No. 118 were both daughter lodges - Kerrisdale, of Zion, and Adoniram, of Prince of Wales. Both were instituted in 1928.

We mentioned the demise of Gothic Lodge and it seems Grand Lodge wasn’t going to let the innocent victims of the infighting be without a lodge. So Keystone No. 121 formed in late 1929 with several esteemed PDDGMs and P.Ms from Maple Leaf imported to keep an eye on things. A contentious issue - where to meet - was resolved by not meeting in either of the places the factions of Gothic Lodge wanted to locate.

The Depression and War resulted in no new Lodges in Vancouver but, as is well known, petitioners aplenty made themselves known toward the end of the war. Landmark No. 128 was the first formed in April 1946 to act as a Canadian work counterpart to University Lodge.

H.E. Freeman-Smith of Burrard Lodge had assembled an RCAF degree team during the War that went from lodge to lodge and when the hostilities ended, decided to form a permanent lodge of ex-military members. Thus King George No. 129 was instituted in late 1946. Irishmen and Mt. Lebanon members were the movers behind the forming of Emerald No. 134 in Marpole in 1948, and Caledonia No. 136 was founded that year by brethren of Scottish descent, such as Murdo Cameron of Mt. Hermon Lodge. It seems to have been designed as an American work lodge for the Grandview area.

Fellowship No. 137 was born because of the fellowship on a fraternal visit of Cascade No. 12 to Mt. Baker Lodge in Washington State. The Cascade members enjoyed each other’s company so much, they formed their own lodge.

The Dunbar District of Vancouver was one of the few without a Masonic lodge, and this was rectified when Dunbar No. 145 formed in November 1951. However, the lodge sold its building in the 1960s and has had homes in Kerrisdale and downtown since.

In 1952, Evergreen No. 148 spun off, more or less as a daughter of Kerrisdale Lodge. Burnaby No. 150 is a daughter of Lewis No. 57 in New Westminster, and was formed as a Canadian work counterpart to Park Lodge, though the idea was originally to form a second Australian work lodge. This was struck down by the Grand Master as it was stated Southern Cross was allowed to use that ritual as an exception to the rule. However, times and opinions change, and Southern Cross gave birth to a daughter lodge in March 1954. Commonwealth No. 156 formed for what seems to have been two reasons - too many new members were unable to serve in the limited number of offices, and parking on Friday nights at the Hall at Seymour and Georgia was also limited. Commonwealth met in Dunbar, briefly then moved to Marpole.

Backing up to late 1953, West Point No. 155 was instituted as a daughter lodge to University. Mosaic No. 162 formed in October 1954 as an American work companion to Mt. Lebanon and Emerald Lodges, while Crown No. 163 was a daughter lodge of Lions Gate and served as an American work counterpart to Dunbar Lodge. It formed in January 1955.

A number of Masons in the commercial flying industry wanted their own lodge, and they created Aviation No. 175, which met at the Mt. Pleasant Masonic Hall upon their institution in May 1960. Being connected with the airline industry, the lodge rightfully thought it made more sense to meet closer to the Airport, so it moved to Richmond in May 1970.

Crossroads No. 177 was the last new lodge to be formed from scratch in Vancouver (in 1963). It was named for Crossroads No. 696 in San Diego, the lodge of founding Master William A. Herron, who had also been a member of Mt. Lebanon Lodge before heading to the States in the 1950s. It met in the South Main area as an Ancient work counterpart to Trinity, which owed the Masonic Hall there.

The founding of Crossroads Lodge roughly coincides with the peak of Masonic membership in B.C. Numbers started falling, and lodges began to have problems filling offices. Prince Arthur and Mt. Moriah were the first of the amalgamations, joining together as Mt. Moriah No. 82 at the end of 1984, then King George jumped across the river to become Centennial-King George No. 171 in 1987.

Lodges in District No. 15 began to have difficulties carrying on as they felt they should, and Western Gate merged at the end of 1989 with its Mother Lodge, Cascade. Then the whole District collapsed after Kilwinning, Plantagenet, Empire, and Victory merged to form Alliance No. 193 in April 1992 (the District was dissolved two months later). The year before had seen other major changes - Mosaic and Crown Lodges formed Mosaic and Crown No. 162, West Point members joined Caledonia, Crossroads merged with Mt. Lebanon, St. James moved to White Rock, and Vimy relocated to Port Coquitlam.

Landmark decided to move to Haney in 1993 to be closer to its membership base, the last of the moves from the city to the suburbs.

Keystone-Lions Gate No. 121 held their first meeting in October 1996, while the “new” Mt. Moriah proved amalgamation could be no solution, and surrendered its warrant at the end of 1997. Unity Lodge went back with its Mother Lodge, Grandview, in 1997, while Kerrisdale returned to its Mother Lodge, Zion, in November 1998. Fellowship Lodge handed in its warrant a month later.

Adoniram and Dunbar Lodges consolidated in June 2001 to form Dunbar No. 118, which merged with Evergreen Lodge in September 2002. Caledonia Lodge surrendered its warrant in October 2002 after a failed vote a year earlier to amalgamate with Emerald Lodge.

Emerald and Mosaic & Crown decided to merge to form Pythagoras No. 194 in September 2003, while Composite handed in its warrant in November 2004 and members were taken in by Meridian Lodge. A month later, Maple Leaf-Park No. 63 was formed with great optimism and enthusiasm.

The drop in membership and change in demographics has resulted in fewer Masonic Halls in Vancouver, though some lodges had been renting space in other buildings through the 20s and 30s. As mentioned, Dunbar sold its building in the 1960s, while Mt. Moriah and University divested themselves of property in the 1970s to move into the new Masonic Temple at 8th near Granville. A lack of parking on 1st Avenue forced Grandview to get rid of its building in the mid-80s, while Trinity sold the South Main Masonic Temple in the 90s after tiring of taxes and upkeep, and dealing with a changing ethnic demographic in the area. Composite leased its building to a church in 1999 and all tenants moved, with Meridian briefly residing in New Westminster before settling on Kerrisdale.

Several Vancouver lodges continue to struggle, while others are bringing in new members so survival, if not prosperity, are assured for the immediate future.

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1 "The Square", R.J. Templeton, editor. p. 15-17

© 2006-2008, Lodge Southern Cross No. 44, BC&Y
Last Updated: 28 Dec, 2007/TMC