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About the Lodge
The Fort Nelson Lodge No. 179 building was originally built as a nurse’s residence in 1942 by the US Army at the Fort Nelson airport.
The building was acquired by five founding members of Fort Nelson Lodge No. 179: Ross Clark, Ed McLeod, Ray Read, Hugh Gilbert and Bob Angus. They also purchased the land on which the building sits. In 1968 the building was moved from the airport to its present site. The members completed the renovations by 1970 and lent the building to Fort Nelson Lodge without charges until 1982. From 1982 to 2002, a legal lease was written up and a lease payment of $10.00 per year was paid to Grand Lodge. After this 20 year lease, the ownership was transferred to the Fort Nelson Temple Building Society and remains the same to this day.
Further renovations where completed in 1992 when the building was moved onto its basement and a front entrance was added.
Location
4803 Sunset Drive, Fort Nelson, British Columbia V0C 1R0, Canada
Province
Lodges that meet here
Fort Nelson Lodge No. 179
Fort Nelson Lodge No. 179
It is fitting that the last, and 170th, Lodge established under a Warrant of Constitution from the Grand Lodge of British Columbia during its century of existence should have been established in one of the remotest spots left in the province and, in fact, one of the very last of her frontiers.
This time, the safari for the establishment of the Lodges takes one to the far northeast corner of the province, to Fort Nelson, situated on the Alaska Highway, some 300 miles to the north of “Mile 0” at Dawson Creek. Fort Nelson is the site of the original Hudson’s Bay Company's post, established in 1800. The town is said to have taken its name from Lord Horatio Nelson (1758-1805), the hero of the Battle of Trafalgar.
During the year 1967-68, Fort St. John Lodge No. 131 was given permission to hold under its charter a Lodge of Instruction in Fort Nelson, for the benefit of a group of brethren resident in that community.
The Grand Master issued a dispensation for the new Lodge, and the Ceremony of Institution took place on May 23, 1969, under the direction of the District Deputy Grand Master for Peace River District 19. In the presence of the Grand Secretary, the charter for Fort Nelson Lodge No. 179 was granted in Grand Lodge on June 19, 1970, and the Lodge was constituted by the Grand Master on august 21, 1970. Fort Nelson Lodge chose the Canadian work for its ritual.
