DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it — and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, if you want to talk about timing, consider this: on December 12, 1910, a Masonic Lodge was chartered in the municipality of Houston Heights, and before the year was even finished — I mean nineteen days later, on December 31st — that lodge held its very first meeting. Reagan Lodge wasn't the kind of outfit to let the calendar run out on them.
And here's what made that moment bigger than it might look at first glance. Reagan Lodge, No. 1037 A.F. and A.M., was the first Masonic Lodge instituted in the Houston suburbs. That made it the opening act of what the marker calls the second wave of Houston Masonic Lodges — and it arrived hand in hand with a major surge in the growth of the city itself and the birth of its suburbs.
You couldn't have written better timing if you tried. The lodge took its name from a man worth naming something after: John Henninger Reagan, a Mason, born in 1818 and died in 1905. Now, this fellow wore more hats than most men own.
He served as a judge. He served as Confederate Postmaster General. He served as a U.S.
Congressman and then a Senator. He was a framer of the 1876 Texas Constitution. And if that weren't enough, he was the first chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission.
One man. All of that. The lodge itself was no slouch in the ambitions department either.
Within its first twelve years, it facilitated the formation of Chapters of the Order of the Eastern Star, the Order of DeMolay for Boys, and the Order of Rainbow for Girls. Three area schools have been named for lodge members. That is a footprint.
Now, their first regular meetings were held in rented space in the 900 block of Yale Street — humble enough beginnings. But in 1912 an association was formed with the specific aim of raising money for a permanent home. That goal took a while to reach.
The permanent lodge building finally went up in 1930, at the northeast corner of Harvard Street and Eleventh Avenue. Solid. Permanent.
Theirs. And then came 1935, and the Great Depression, and a local bank took over the building. That's not a gentle way to lose a home.
The lodge moved to a temporary site and stayed patient — the kind of patient that takes years. In 1948, the patience paid off. A new lodge building was completed at the northeast corner of Heights Boulevard and Sixteenth Avenue.
It was designed by an architect named L.R. Hayes — a Houston Heights resident himself, and a man who had served as Master of Reagan Lodge in 1937 and 1938. A man who knew what that building meant, because he'd sat at the head of the lodge that needed it.
Reagan Masonic Lodge has kept on from there — charitable work, philanthropic endeavors, a long history of civic leadership in the Houston Heights community. From a rented room on Yale Street to a building they could finally call their own, through the Depression and out the other side. Still at it.
Still standing. That's the kind of lodge John Henninger Reagan would probably have recognized — built to last, and not inclined to quit.
What the marker says
Reagan Lodge, the first Masonic Lodge instituted in the Houston suburbs, marked the beginning of the second wave of Houston Masonic Lodges and accompanied a major surge in the growth of the city and the birth of its suburbs. The lodge was chartered in the municipality of Houston Heights on December 12, 1910; its first meeting was held on December 31, 1910. The lodge was named for Mason John Henninger Reagan (1818-1905), who served as a judge, Confederate Postmaster General, U.S. Congressman and Senator, framer of the 1876 Texas Constitution, and first chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission. Within its first twelve years, the lodge facilitated the formation of Chapters of the Order of the Eastern Star, Order of Demolay for Boys and Order of Rainbow for Girls. Three area schools have been named for lodge members. The lodge’s first regular meetings were held in a rented space in the 900 block of Yale St. An association was formed in 1912 to raise money for a new, permanent lodge building, which was constructed in 1930 at the northeast corner of Harvard St. and Eleventh Ave., but was taken over by a local bank in 1935 as a result of the Great Depression. The lodge met at a temporary site until the completion of the lodge building at the northeast corner of Heights Blvd. and Sixteenth Ave. in 1948. The building was designed by architect and Houston Heights resident L.R. Hayes, who was also Master of Reagan Lodge 1937-1938. Reagan Masonic Lodge has a long history of charitable work and philanthropic endeavors and continues to be a civic leader in the Houston Heights community.