VANCOUVER MASONIC CENTRE

Since the 1860s, before the City of Vancouver had been incorporated, before the terminus of the CP Rail had been decided, Freemasons met in a number of different buildings which dotted the Burrard Inlet. Some of these buildings still stand today, such as the Springer–Van Bramer Building in Gastown. As Freemasonry flourished in the first decades of the 20th century, the Vancouver Masonic Temple Association (VMTA) formally constituted itself in 1934. After WW2, membership in Masonic Lodges grew rapidly as men returning from war sought to maintain fraternal bonds in civilian life. During the 15-year period of 1947 and 1962, the average initiation throughout the province rose to 1,106 per year and Lodges increased from a total of 118 in BC & Yukon to 163. That was an increase of 16,593 members and an increase of 45 Lodges. Either enhancements to existing facilities would be needed, or a new building built to accommodate such growth. At its Annual General Meeting in December 1966, VMTA President George Derby opened the discussion of looking to renovate the Masonic Temple which at that time stood at the corner of Georgia Street and Seymour Street, by adding a new elevator and air conditioning.

A year later, however, at the 1967 Annual General Meeting, a second proposal, or Plan ‘B’ was presented. An outside development group came with an offer to lease the lot for 50 years to develop a 15-story building and let the Masons rent back the 2nd & 3rd floors (and the basement) for their Masonic endeavours. When looking at both financial options, it was decided that Plan B, the long-term lease, made more financial sense. This original plan would have kept the Lodges on the downtown peninsula, but it did not proceed. Nonetheless, Lodges had already left the building in anticipation of redevelopment and a new solution was needed. In 1971, the lot at 8th Avenue & Granville Street where the Vancouver Masonic Centre (VMC) stands today was acquired for $107,000. When the building was completed in 1974, the total construction cost was just shy of $840,000, a fraction of what today’s building cost to build.

The VMC was successful and happy for many years, but as membership declined and Lodges turned in their Charters, the costs of property taxes and lots of maintenance on a 40-year-old building brought the question of financial sustainability of the building into view. Beginning around 2012 the directors of the time realized something needed to be done. Fortunately, with the help of Colliers International, the VMC Directors were able to forge a deal with BC Housing to fund a bold vision for redevelopment of the site which was eventually finished in early 2022. Today the building is home to several Lodges and Appendant Bodies which enjoy one of North America’s premier Masonic facilities. In addition, it houses the Library, Archives and Offices of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia & Yukon, a ballroom and banquet facility, and over 150 neighbours, who live in the tower overlooking the city and its beautiful natural surroundings.

The coming of the Canadian Pacific Railway to the west coast of British Columbia resulted in a huge population boom around Granville, a tiny mill town on the south shore of Burrard Inlet. It became the incorporated City of Vancouver on April 6, 1886.

Among the swarms of new settlers were Freemasons from Ontario and Manitoba, some of whom worked for the railway. They visited Mt. Hermon Lodge, which had moved across the inlet, from Moodyville, to Vancouver that year. But Mt. Hermon Lodge used the American Masonic ritual which were unfamiliar to the newcomers. Some decided they should form a lodge with ritual that they knew. A number of them met at the office of realtor James Welton Horne on April 25, 1888, and resolved to request a dispensation from the Grand Master to meet formally as Cascade Lodge, the name being taken from one of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Divisions. 35 Master Masons signed the application. Grand Master A.R. Milne signed the dispensation on May 11, 1988, and a warrant as Number 12 was approved by Grand Lodge on June 25, 1888.

The first Worshipful Master was William Downey, the Irish-born Assistant Superintendent of the railway. He was later Grand Master for British Columbia. The first Senior Warden was J.W. Horne, founder of the towns of Brandon, Manitoba and Mission. The first Junior Warden was Lacey R. Johnson, Master Mechanic for the Canadian Pacific Railway who also became Grand Master.

Not only did the early members of Cascade build a Lodge, they helped build a city. Mayors David Oppenheimer, Fred Cope, Henry Collins, James F. Garden, Thomas O. Townley, Fred Buscombe and Charles Tisdall were all members of Cascade; Tisdall was later a Grand Master.

Among the founding members were Henry J. Cambie (Cambie Street), William Salsbury (Salsbury Drive) and Donald B. Charleson, who gave his name to Charleson Park along False Creek. Cascade originally met at a hall on Cordova Street owned by a member, Harry Arkell. It moved in 1889 to a new hall still standing on the northwest corner of Cordova Street and Cambie Street, then rented another building at Hastings Street and Granville Street from 1898 to 1910. At this point, a new building for Masons only was opened at 692 Seymour Street at Georgia Street, with Cascade being one of the prominent financiers of the project. The Lodge remained there until the building was closed in 1969, taking up residency at the new Masonic Temple at 1495 West 8th Avenue in 1973 until it was closed in 2017. The Lodge was forced to temporarily move next door to the Oddfellows Hall until the West 7th Avenue Centre opened in 2022.

Cascade’s daughter Lodges include Pacific No. 16 (now in Abbotsford, originally in Mission), Western Gate No. 48, Grandview No. 96 and Fellowship No. 137. Western Gate returned to its Mother Lodge on Dec. 4, 1989 while Alliance No. 193 (originally Kilwinning No. 59, Plantagenet No. 65, Empire No. 85 and Victory No. 94) consolidated with Cascade on January 30, 2019.

100th Anniversary | 1920 – 2020

University Lodge No. 91 was originally Instituted and Constituted in Point Grey not, then, in the City of Vancouver. Our Lodge presented its petition to Grand Lodge, together with six other Lodges, shortly after the close of World War 1  University Lodge received its dispensation from the Grand Master, Most Worshipful Brother Samuel J. Willis on February 27, 1920. Membership at that time was 27.

Our Lodge was granted its Charter at the Annual Communication of Grand Lodge on June 17, 1920 and was given its present number of 91.  University Lodge No. 91 was constituted by Most Worshipful Brother Willis on August 4, 1920.  Our Lodge adopted the “Ancient” or “American” ritual for its Work.  It is generally agreed that University Lodge obtained its original form of ritual from Ashlar Lodge No. 3 in Nanaimo.  This ritual is still followed today.

University Lodge originally met at its own hall at 4426 West 10th Avenue.  In June 1975, the building was sold and we moved to the Vancouver Masonic Centre at 1495 West 8th Avenue.  Our first meeting was held there on Monday, September 8, 1975, in the Ditmars Room with the Worshipful Master, Worshipful Brother John D. S. Phipps presiding.  Due to the redevelopment of the VMC between 2018 and 2022, we met in the Odd Fellows Hall, 1443 West 8th Avenue and returned to the VMC in early 2022.

The tenets of Freemasonry are Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth. We believe that this extends to all people. To relieve the distressed is incumbent on every Mason.

During our time as an active Lodge, University Lodge financially supported organizations that provide assistance to people in need, through annual donations to the Salvation Army and Union Gospel Mission, and by selecting a specific charity on an annual basis, such as meal boxes for school children and local food banks.

On December 7, 2023, because of declining membership, the Brethren of University Lodge surrendered their Warrant to operate as a Lodge to Most Worshipful Brother Art Smith at a regular meeting of Acacia Lodge No.22. The remaining Brethren continue their Masonic endeavours, having affiliated with other area Lodges.

Mount Hermon Lodge No. 7

In the year 1862, when British Columbia and Vancouver Island were still colonies under the British Crown, a sawmill was founded on the north shore of Burrard Inlet on a site immediately west of the present Second Narrows Bridge.  This sawmill was purchased in 1864 by Sewell Prescott Moody and his associates and the man appointed to take charge of the clerical duties of the firm was one Josias Charles Hughes. After settling in Moodyville, as the settlement was now called, and finding that many of his associates, including S. P. Moody, the owner of the mill, were members of the Masonic Fraternity, he conceived the idea of starting a Masonic Lodge and applied to the Grand Lodge of Scotland for a dispensation to start a Lodge to be known as "Lodge Mount Hermon." 

The dispensation was eventually granted and on January 15, 1869, Mount Hermon Lodge, the first Masonic Lodge on the Burrard Inlet, was established. Josiah Hughes was elected as the first Worshipful Master, Coote Mulloy Chambers the first Secretary, and mill owner Sewell Prescott Moody (1834-1875) was satisfied with the minor office of Inner Guard. Since almost all prospective members were connected with the mill, the lodge was built directly north of it. It was inaugurated with 17 members.

Past Grand Masters who were members of Mount Hermon Lodge include: Most Worshipful Bros.  Coote M. Chambers, William Downie, William J. Bowser, James Stark, Frank S. McKee, Charles E. Tisdall, Karl P. Warick, William Menzies, Frederick W. Coffin, and V. Burnie Kyle. 

Bro. Robert Gordon McBeath, VC, was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross in WW1.  He was initiated in Lodge St. Mary's Caledonian Operative, No.339, (Inverness, Scotland) on 12 July 1919. He finished his degrees in Mount Hermon Lodge, being passed on 29 October 1921 and raised on 18 May 1922.  He was tragically killed in the line of duty as a Vancouver Police officer in October 1922.   A Vancouver Police Marine vessel is named in his honour: The R.C McBeath VC. A tTribute and cairn unveiling was held at the Vancouver Police Tactical Training Centre on June 16th, 2010. The tribute was attended by a VPD honour guard, the Vancouver Police Pipe band, a contingency of Kinlochbervie High School students and escorts, from McBeath’s Scottish home town; distinguished members of the Vancouver Police Department, members of Mount Hermon Lodge No. 7, and the press.

Mount Hermon Lodge has been involved in the community and contributed to a variety of charities over the past few years:

• Sponsored the Vancouver Police Soccer and Services Club - Paul Sanghera Memorial Indoor Soccer Tournament for youth from Vancouver high schools where top players were awarded with scholarships toward their post-secondary education.
• Sponsored youth from low-income families to attend summer Knight Camp at Academie Duello Centre for Swordplay and Western Martial Arts.
• Donated to Vancouver Firefighter’s Snacks for Kids program which   distributes food discreetly through an accessible distribution system that allows the child to participate anonymously without fear of humiliation or being judged by peers
• Donated to Battered Woman’s Services Society which provides emotional support to women experiencing gender-based domestic violence and/or uncertainty during these difficult times.

ACACIA LODGE No. 22

It may be difficult to picture the area around Broadway and Main Street with fields, fish-filled streams and a swamp a few blocks to the south. But that pretty much describes Mount Pleasant at the time a group of Masons in the area decided to form a Llodge in the area so they didn’t have to walk or take the streetcar into downtown.

If it were up to the Grand Master of the day, there never would have been an Acacia Lodge. He refused the request of the Mt. Pleasant brethren for a dispensation because he felt another Lodge would hurt the two meeting in the city. The denial was put to the Grand Lodge in June 1893, and the members overturned the Grand Master’s decision and agreed the brethren on the outskirts should receive a dispensation to form a Lodge.

Acacia Lodge was instituted on July 8 1893 and immediately received four petitions for initiation and five for affiliation. The Lodge operated with to the satisfaction to of Grand Lodge, and was constituted as number 22 on July 26, 1894. Acacia rented meeting space from the Oddfellows until January 1899 when the Lodge moved downtown and met with the two city Lodges in the McKinnon Building at Hastings and Granville. The Lodge was one of the original tenants of the Masonic Temple at Seymour and Georgia in 1910 and remained there until it was sold at the end of 1968. When the new Masonic Centre opened on West Eighth Avenue near Granville in 1974, the Acacia Lodge made its home there after spending the interim at the Dunbar Masonic Hall at 4336 Dunbar Avenue.

The Masonic Centre was closed at the end of 2017 and Acacia met at the Richmond Masonic Hall on No. 3 Road in 2018 then relocated to the Kerrisdale Masonic Hall the following year.

The first Master of the Lodge was John Gavin, who had joined the fraternity in Teeswater, Ontario before coming west. He gained employment with the Canadian Pacific Railway and later the B.C. Electric Railway. He was a city alderman and Gavin Street in Vancouver is named for him.

Other prominent members of Acacia Lodge were Frank Bowser, who created a business district at what was then a stop on the B.C.E.R. at Kerrisdale and was Reeve of the Municipality of Point Grey; Frank Burd, the managing editor of the Daily Province and a founder of the Canadian Press, and William C. “Billy” Woodward, Lieutenant Governor of B.C. from 1941 to 1946.

LODGE SOUTHERN CROSS No. 44

Vancouver has the privilege of being the only city in North America with a Masonic Lodge using the ceremonies compiled by the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales, Australia, in 1888.  A number of Australians had settled in Vancouver around the turn of the 20th Century. One of them was an auctioneer named John James Miller, known to all and sundry as “J.J.” He had been the mayor of his home town of Cootamundra, where he had also been the Master of the local Lodge, St. John's Cootamunda No. 124.

Australians are fun-loving by nature so J.J. spearheaded the founding of the Australasian Social Club in Vancouver in September 1905. A number of the members were Freemasons, so J.J. called a get-together in April, 1906, and those present agreed to form a Lodge, name it “Southern Cross” and use the New South Wales ritual.  J.J. was elected Master, Harold Kingsford-Smith, Sr. Warden and Max Freed, Jr. Warden. Kingsford-Smith’s son was the noted aviator Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, whose plane was the “Southern Cross.”  Freed’s son was MGM musical producer Arthur Freed.  The Freed family soon returned to Washington state and J.J.’s brother William was made Jr. Warden in his stead.

The Lodge had 22 Founders when it was instituted on June 15, 1906. It received a warrant as No. 44 on July 17, 1907.  

J.J. was the first president of the Pacific National Exhibition and an alderman of the city of Vancouver. Masonically, he was active in forming two Lodges in the Grandview District, Grandview No. 96 and Unity No. 108, as well as Triple Tau Chapter No. 23 (Royal Arch) and Zabud Council No. 4 (now No. 1, Cryptic Rite). He was elected an Honorary Past Grand Master and Honorary Past Grand First Principal (Royal Arch) of B.C., and served two years as Grand Master of Cryptic Rite Masons of Canada (all provinces west of Quebec). He died on Christmas Eve 1950 at age 90.

The Lodge originally met at the Williams Building, on the southwest corner of Granville and Hastings, and moved to the new Masonic Temple at Seymour and Georgia in 1910. Southern Cross remained there until the building was sold at the end of 1968, except for roughly eight months when it left in a rent dispute and moved to the Labour Temple at 411 Dunsmuir near Homer in 1913. In 1969, the Lodge found a home at the Mt. Pleasant Masonic Hall, southeast corner of Broadway and Ontario, before residing in the new Masonic Centre on Eighth Avenue just east of Granville in September 1974.

Lodge Southern Cross relocated to the Kerrisdale Masonic Hall in September 2013. It has been meeting monthly on the second Friday since 1919.  To this day, the Lodge attempts to follow the old ritual of New South Wales as well as various Festive Board customs, such as The Flutter and Interrupting Masonic Fire, that J.J. brought with him from New South Wales.