Lavaca Lodge No. 36, A.F. & A.M.

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about this one. Now settle in, because this is a story about a lodge that refused to stay buried. The first Masonic lodge in Calhoun County was chartered as Lavaca Lodge No. 36 in 1848.

The very first. And for a time, that was something to be proud of. But then came the Civil War, and what followed it, and somewhere in all that hardship and upheaval, the Port Lavaca Lodge went quiet.

It didn't just slow down. It disbanded. Gone.

The first lodge in the county, and it was finished. Most stories end there. This one doesn't.

Because in 1886, something remarkable happened. Over in Indianola, there was a lodge called Indianola Lodge No. 84. And a destructive hurricane had come through and changed everything about that town.

So Indianola Lodge No. 84 picked itself up and moved to Port Lavaca. Now it carried a new name for a good long while, known as W. P.

Milby Lodge No. 84. And it answered to that name for decades, right up until 1935. That's when someone decided it was time to reach back.

Time to reclaim something. The name Lavaca Lodge No. 36 was reinstated. The original name, the original number, restored.

Over all those years, the members have included businessmen, soldiers, and state, county, and city officials. All kinds of Texans, all under the same roof, carrying the same name that first appeared in Calhoun County back in 1848. Some things, it turns out, are just too stubborn to stay gone.

What the marker says

The first Masonic lodge in Calhoun County was chartered as Lavaca Lodge No. 36 in 1848. After a period of inactivity during and after the Civil War, the Port Lavaca Lodge disbanded. The fraternal organization reappeared in Port Lavaca in 1886, when Indianola Lodge No. 84 moved here from Indianola following a destructive hurricane. It was known as W. P. Milby Lodge No. 84 until 1935, when the name Lavaca Lodge No. 36 was reinstated. Over the years, its members have included businessmen, soldiers, and state, county, and city officials. (1985)