San Gabriel Lodge No. 89, A. F. & A. M.

The plaque says San Gabriel Lodge helped lay the cornerstone of the Capitol in Austin in 1885. The State Preservation Board dates that ceremony to March 2, 1885, and describes a 12,000-pound stone with a niche carved to hold a zinc box of mementoes, with government and civic dignitaries attending. More than a thousand people worked on the building, and it was dedicated on May 16, 1888, when Senator Temple Houston accepted it for the state. The lodge's part in the day rests on the plaque, since the board's account does not mention the Masons.

What the plaque says

San Gabriel Lodge No. 89, A. F. & A. M. Organized in 1851, three years after the creation of Williamson County, San Gabriel Lodge No. 89 was chartered in January 1852 with John T. Cox, a Methodist minister from South Carolina, as worshipful master. The lodge grew rapidly with the new county seat. An Eastern Star chapter was formed and met in the Masonic Lodge. San Gabriel Lodge No. 89 assisted in laying the cornerstone for the State Capitol building in Austin in 1885. The lodge has long been involved in such Williamson County matters as public education, its members serving on the board of education as well as in the roles of superintendents, teachers and patrons. One hundred and forty-eight years after its inception, San Gabriel Lodge No. 89 continues in the traditions of its founders. (1999)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Williamson County Courthouse — 1.0 mi
  The fifth Williamson County courthouse, a Beaux Arts building by C. H. Page, rises over a Georgetown square of more than 50 Victorian-era buildings.
• Inner Space Cavern — 3.1 mi
  A Georgetown cave found in 1963 when highway engineers drilled test holes, holding Pleistocene fossils and 72-degree rooms that visitors reach by an artificial tunnel.
• The Round Rock — 9.5 mi
  A table-shaped stone in Brushy Creek gave Round Rock its name in 1854; the Chisholm Trail crossed the creek near it, and Old Town stayed behind when the railroad pulled the town east.
• Mount Bonnell — 24 mi
  Austin's old lookout over the Colorado, named by an 1838 traveler, picnicked on by George and Libbie Custer, and reached by a 1939 flight of about 100 limestone steps.

More markers nearby

• San Gabriel Park — steps away
• Iota Chapter, Kappa Sigma Fraternity — 0.9 mi
• Xi Chapter, Kappa Alpha Order — 1.0 mi
• Site of Marshall-Carver High School — 1.0 mi