LADYSMITH MASONIC TEMPLE

A journey over land and through Fire

The building you are standing in front of did not begin its life in this location.  The group of Freemasons who built this lodge (St. John’s No. 21) originally consecrated their Lodge in Wellington in 1894. The closure of a mining operation had the Lodge and many of its Brethren relocate to the town of Ladysmith. The original wood building was dismantled and put on rail cars for its journey up the line and was re-built in the location you are at now.  A fire all but destroyed the building in 1912, and the members of St. John’s Lodge No. 21 decided to rebuild in brick and mortar.   

More than a century of fellowship and community

St. John’s Lodge No. 21, which owns the building, is not the only Masonic group that uses this temple.  It is also home to Chemainus Lodge No. 114, who sold their building in 1976, as well as a number of concordant Masonic bodies; Eastern Star, Jobs Daughters, Royal Arch, cryptic rite and Allied Masonic Degrees. This building is also used by the town of Ladysmith as a staging area for the Festival of Lights, an annual community event. While the building was being rebuilt after the fire of 1912, the Masons met in the local Oddfellow’s Hall and were able to repay this favour by allowing the Local Oddfellows to use the Temple when their own building burnt down in 1932. You can learn more about the two lodges that meet here further down the page.