HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Farmersville Masonic Lodge No. 214, A.F. & A.M.

Farmersville, Collin County, Texas

Marker Inscription

This Romanesque Revival structure, built in 1888-89, housed a second story fraternal hall above a first floor mercantile. One of the earliest surviving buildings in Farmersville, it features locally quarried limestone, narrow double-hung windows, an arched second story window, and a corbelled pressed metal parapet. Two Grand Masters of the Grand Lodge of Texas were from the local Masonic lodge, chartered in 1858. The lodge met here until 1966, and the Farmersville Times newspaper has officed here since 1956. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark – 2007

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Built in 1888–89 of locally quarried limestone, this Romanesque Revival building placed a Masonic hall above a ground-floor store—one of the oldest surviving structures in Farmersville. The lodge, chartered in 1858, met upstairs until 1966 and produced two Grand Masters of the Grand Lodge of Texas. The Farmersville Times newspaper has kept offices in the building since 1956.

Why it matters

Fraternal halls like this anchored civic and commercial life in Gilded Age Texas towns, doubling as gathering places above the everyday marketplace.

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