Gray Lodge No. 329, A. F. & A. M.
Houston, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded in 1870, this is Houston's second oldest Masonic Lodge. On May 11, 1870, twenty-two Master Masons, in response to the growth in Houston's population, signed a petition requesting a charter for a new lodge from the Grand Lodge of Texas. Gray Lodge No. 329 was constituted in the hall of Houston's first Masonic Lodge, Holland Lodge No. 1. The lodge was named for William Fairfax Gray, who was in Texas as a land agent and attended the Convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos in 1836 when Texas declared independence from Mexico. Gray moved his family from Virginia to Houston in 1837. He was by profession an attorney, and served as clerk of the Republic of Texas House of Representatives and the Senate in 1837 and 1838.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
As Houston boomed after the Civil War, twenty-two Master Masons petitioned in 1870 for a charter, and Gray Lodge No. 329 was constituted in the hall of the city's original Holland Lodge No. 1, becoming Houston's second-oldest Masonic lodge. It took its name from William Fairfax Gray, a Virginia attorney who came to Texas as a land agent, witnessed the 1836 convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos where independence was declared, and later served as clerk of the Republic of Texas legislature.
Why it matters
Fraternal lodges were early pillars of frontier civic life, and this one links a growing Reconstruction-era Houston back to a firsthand witness of Texas's founding as a republic.
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Related people
- · William Fairfax Gray
Related events
- · Convention of 1836
Themes & tags
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