Floydada Lodge No. 712, A. F. & A. M.
Floydada, Floyd County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Organized by eighteen charter members in April 1891, this Masonic Lodge was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Texas on December 11th that year. Formed just one year after the town of Floyd City (later renamed Floydada) became Floyd County seat, the lodge has grown with the community. Early meetings were held in rented quarters over a general store. Lodge members have been active in numerous civic organizations, and a number of Floydada Lodge Masons have served as elected county officials. (1991)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Just a year after Floyd City — later renamed Floydada — became the seat of Floyd County, eighteen men organized this Masonic lodge in April 1891, receiving their charter that December. Early meetings gathered above a general store while the town found its feet on the South Plains. Over the decades lodge members filled county offices and civic organizations, growing right alongside the community.
Why it matters
The near-simultaneous founding of county seat and lodge shows how frontier communities built their governing and civic institutions together, almost from the first year.
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Nearby & related markers
First Methodist Church of Floydada
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First Baptist Church of Floydada
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Organization of Floyd County
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Floyd County was carved out by the Texas Legislature in 1876, but which town would rule it was anything but settled. As railroad construction pushed westward from Wichita Falls and homesteaders poured in, rival townsites — Della Plain, Lockney, and finally Floyd City — jockeyed to become county seat. Voters settled the contest in May 1890 by choosing Floyd City, whose name changed to Floydada when its post office opened that September, and elected the county's first slate of officers.