Alvarado Masonic Lodge No. 314 A.F. & A.M.
Alvarado, Johnson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Alvarado Masonic Lodge No. 314 A.F. & A.M. Chartered in 1869, the Alvarado Masonic Lodge began under leadership of A. J. Chambers, J. C. Weaver and Joel Higgins. From its earliest years it offered strong support of local education. The first lodge building provided classroom space, and the lodge administered local school efforts, establishing the Masonic Institute in the 1870s. It later became Alvarado Normal Institute and then Alvarado High School. The lodge has also supported the Masonic Home and School in Fort Worth and hosted the Grand Lodge of Texas meeting (1946). Civic leaders who were also lodge members include town founder William Balch and first mayor J. H. Wright. The lodge continues to aid the community through its many programs. (2003 )
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Chartered in 1869 under leaders A.J. Chambers, J.C. Weaver and Joel Higgins, the Alvarado Masonic Lodge threw its weight behind local schooling from the start, lending classroom space and founding the Masonic Institute in the 1870s. That school evolved into the Alvarado Normal Institute and then Alvarado High School, while town founder William Balch and first mayor J.H. Wright counted among its members.
Why it matters
In frontier Texas, Masonic lodges often bankrolled the first schools, making fraternal orders like Alvarado's quiet founders of public education.
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Related people
- · William Balch
- · J.H. Wright
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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