DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Lone Star Masonic Lodge Number 403, out of Grayson County. Now settle in, because even a building can have a story worth telling. Lone Star Masonic Lodge was chartered on June 6, 1874, organized just a year after the city of Denison itself was founded.
Think about that. The ink was barely dry on the town, and already these men were gathering, finding one meeting place and then another, and then another after that, searching for a home worthy of the lodge. For years, the meetings moved around, never quite putting down permanent roots.
But that was about to change. In 1900, the northern half of this brick lodge hall rose up. Solid.
Substantial. That bracketed eave crowning the top of the structure like it had always meant to be there. Still, the job wasn't finished.
Fifteen years passed before the southern portion was added in 1915, completing what the builders had set out to do. And when the time came to dedicate this hall, well, they didn't just pick any night. They chose the night of December 31, 1915.
New Year's Eve. The ceremonies began in one year and carried right on into New Year's Day, 1916. The old year going out, the new year coming in, and Lone Star Masonic Lodge finally, fully, at home.
Some dedications you remember. That one, you don't forget.
What the marker says
Organized a year after Denison was founded, Lone Star Masonic Lodge was chartered June 6, 1874. Meetings were held in several locations before the construction of this lodge hall. The northern half of the building was erected in 1900 and the southern portion in 1915. A bracketed eave dominates the top of the brick structure. The lodge hall was dedicated on the night of Dec. 31, 1915, with ceremonies extending into New Year's Day 1916. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1985