Orphans Friend Lodge No. 17 Ancient Free & Accepted Masons

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, the year is 1842, and out in Grimes County, a group of men are doing what Masons do best: they're organizing. April 8th, they come together.

By June 30th of that same year, they've got their charter in hand. Orphans Friend Lodge Number 17, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, is open for business. And here's the thing about this lodge.

They didn't just shake hands and go home. They had their eyes on something bigger. Education.

These men pioneered in education, and they meant it. By 1846 they were operating the Masonic Collegiate Institute, right there in Grimes County. That institute ran all the way through 1851, and then the lodge did something that tells you a lot about who they were.

They didn't just close the doors and walk away. They reserved their lodge room, and they gave the school to St. Paul's Episcopal College.

Gave it. That college kept the lights on until 1856. And after that, the plant didn't sit idle.

Various schools used it over the years, passing the torch from one to the next. Then 1905 rolls around, and the property is sold. The lodge picks up, relocates to where it stands today, and carries right on.

Over sixty years of shaping minds in one spot, and they still weren't done. That's not just a lodge. That's a commitment.

What the marker says

Organized April 8, chartered June 30, 1842. Pioneered in education. Operated Masonic Collegiate Institute, 1846-1851. Reserving lodge room, gave school to St. Paul's Episcopal College, which was in operation until 1856. Later plant was used by various schools. In 1905 it was sold, and lodge relocated here.