DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now settle in, because this one's got roots that go back over a century, and it moves around, which, if you know anything about Texas towns and railroads, shouldn't surprise you one bit. We're talkin' about Roddy Lodge Number 734, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, right here in Kaufman County.
The story starts, as so many good Texas stories do, with one man and a stretch of open land. Stephen G. Roddy established the community of Roddy (four miles northeast of where you're likely standing right now) back in 1884.
Eight years later, on May 14, 1892, the Roddy Masonic Lodge was chartered. Twenty-four men signed on as charter members, and leading the whole operation as Worshipful Master was S. G.
Roddy himself. The man founded the town and then ran the lodge. Some folks just have that kind of energy.
Now, a good number of those twenty-four founding brothers hadn't come out of nowhere. Many of them had been members of a lodge over in Prairieville, a few miles to the northwest, and they brought that tradition with them when they gathered under Roddy's banner. In those early days, the lodge met upstairs (and I want you to picture this) on the second floor of the Stanhiser General Merchandise Store, right there in Roddy.
Whatever was movin' through that store below them, flour sacks and fence wire and all the business of a growing community, the lodge was meeting above it, doing what Masons do. But then came the railroad. In 1900, a town called Mabank was established, and by 1906 it was described as a rapidly growing railroad town.
That kind of growth has a gravity to it, and Roddy Lodge felt the pull. They relocated to Mabank that same year, and they settled into several locations over time, including a place known as the Jones Building, which sat on the southwest corner of Third and Market Streets. Now here's where the story takes a turn that would make any campfire storyteller pause.
In 1914, that building was destroyed by fire. Shortly after, the lodge picked themselves up and moved to a hall located above a post office, just around the corner at the northwest corner of Third and Market Streets. Same intersection, different corner.
They weren't going anywhere. And they proved it in 1958, when they built a brand-new lodge hall near that very site; a proper building with a large lodge room, a reception room, a kitchen, and preparation rooms. That's a lodge that intends to stay put.
And they have stayed. Through all those years and all those moves, Roddy Lodge Number 734 has built a reputation for giving back. They've got a history of raising funds to help local schools improve their facilities, and they've established an educational grant program that annually awards scholarships to two of the area's graduating high school seniors.
Two young people every year, carryin' a little bit of that 1892 charter forward into whatever comes next. The lodge also contributes to the Scottish Rite Children's Hospital of Dallas. One man, one community, twenty-four charter members, and more than a century of showing up.
That's Roddy Lodge Number 734.
What the marker says
The community of Roddy (4 mi. NE) was established by Stephen G. Roddy in 1884. The Roddy Masonic Lodge was chartered on May 14, 1892. The 24 charter members included Worshipful Master S. G. Roddy and many former members of the lodge in Prairieville, located a few miles northwest of Roddy. Early lodge meetings were held on the second floor of the Stanhiser General Merchandise Store in Roddy. In 1906 the lodge relocated to Mabank, at that time a rapidly growing railroad town established in 1900. The lodge met in several locations including the "Jones Building" located at the southwest corner of Third and Market Streets. Shortly after that building was destroyed by fire in 1914, the lodge met in a hall located above a post office at the northwest corner of Third and Market Streets. A new lodge hall, consisting of a large lodge room, reception room, kitchen, and preparation rooms was built near this site in 1958. The lodge, which has a history of raising funds to help local schools improve their facilities, has established an educational grant program which annually awards scholarships to two of the area's graduating high school seniors. Roddy Lodge also contributes to the Scottish Rite Children's Hospital of Dallas.