REVELSTOKE MASONIC HALL

Revelstoke Freemasons held their first lodge meetings in 1891 in a drafty upstairs portion of the Bourne Brothers building on Track Street. A first order of business was installing a new wood stove, which the Brethren would manage without for several winters. One frigid evening in 1898 the Secretary renewed this request in the minutes using pencil as the inkwell had frozen solid.

The Lodge quickly outgrew its chilly confines. An influx of workers relocated to Revelstoke from nearby shuttered CPR communities, and in 1900, the new members moved across town to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Hall.

There they formed a ways-and-means committee to finance the construction of a new temple. A building was constructed on two lots at the corner of First Street and Boyle Avenue. After years of fundraising, it was opened in 1914, and in 1928, members symbolically burned the mortgage to signify successful property ownership. 

The Lodge now in use is in the upper storey of a building on Mackenzie Avenue previously called Yingling Block. It was purchased in1950 and renamed Freemasons Hall in 1995.

Disaster struck in November 2003 when a fire destroyed the adjoining building. Freemasons Hall survived but suffered extensive water and smoke damage from the blaze. It required quick action and major repairs to the rafters and roof to withstand the coming winter snow load. 

Kootenay Lodge No. 15 stands today as a symbol of purpose, reflecting the dedicated care and investment of its members to the community of Revelstoke in addition to being a comfortable place for meetings and activities.