Athens Lodge No. 165 A.F. & A.M.

A history by the lodge's Worshipful Master, A. R. Cox, printed in the Athens Daily Review in 1941, places the first lodge building where Mrs. W. T. Carroll's home stood at 221 South Palestine Street. It later moved north of the Athens Hotel, and the lodge rented out its ground floor to an A&P grocery. Cox names Judge A. B. Watkins, Grand Master in 1897, as the lodge's own and says Thomas M. Matthews Sr., Grand Master in 1882, had belonged to it. Watkins, Matthews and the Rev. Gus Garrison, all Past Grand Masters, lived in Athens.

What the plaque says

Athens Lodge No. 165 A.F. & A.M. Athens Lodge No. 165 A.F. & A.M., founded in 1854, was the first Masonic lodge to be organized in Henderson County. Henderson County had been created in 1846, and the third county seat, Athens, had been founded in 1850. The group emphasized morality, tradition, fellowship and self-improvement, and hoped to instill the values in the burgeoning community. The first official meeting of the Athens lodge occurred on April 4, 1854, above a store on the Athens public square owned by John P. Walton, who became the lodge's first master. For the first two years, the lodge operated under a dispensation from the Grand Lodge of Texas. The lodge began with eleven master masons, but by 1856 membership had increased to fifty-two, and a charter was obtained from the grand lodge on January 24, 1856. Lodge members contributed to the development of Henderson County in the areas of business, finance, education, healthcare, agriculture, law and public service. Through the years, members of the Athens Masonic lodge helped to establish lodges in the neighboring communities of Science Hill, New York, Malakoff, Chandler, Brownsboro and Eustace. Lodge membership remained steady through Reconstruction, and then doubled during the 1880s, and during the prosperous 1920s a membership of 200 masons was attained. By 1955, over 350 masons called the lodge home, and membership remained relatively level through the 1970s. Although Masonic membership has decreased throughout the state since the late 20th century, the Athens Lodge No. 165 A.F. & A.M. continues to serve the community as a leading Henderson County institution. (2010)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center — 4.0 mi
  A Texas Parks and Wildlife hatchery and visitor center in Athens where visitors can borrow tackle and fish a stocked pond, watch native species in gallery tanks and ride a tram around the hatchery.
• Purtis Creek State Park — 15 mi
  A 1,582-acre park straddling the Henderson and Van Zandt county line, built around a 355-acre lake with no-wake fishing, borrowed tackle, a 4.1-mile hike-and-bike trail and a nature path.

More markers nearby

• Bruce Field — 1.3 mi
• First United Presbyterian Church of Athens — 1.5 mi
• Athens — 1.5 mi
• Henderson County — 1.5 mi