Howe Lodge No. 430, A. F. & A.M.
Van Alstyne, Grayson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Constituted on June 5, 1875, this lodge was organized in the early Grayson County community of Farmington (5 mi. SW). Members voted to move the lodge to Howe in 1887, after the earlier settlement was bypassed by the railroad. In Howe, the first lodge hall was constructed above the Early Methodist Church Chapel. Later facilities were built as the lodge grew. Part of its growth came as a result of a merger with the Dorchester Lodge in 1966. Numerous war veterans and civic leaders have been members here. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Chartered in 1875 in the frontier community of Farmington, this Masonic lodge followed its members to Howe when the railroad bypassed the older settlement in 1887. Its first hall rose above the town's early Methodist chapel, a common pairing of sacred and civic life on the Texas frontier. Over the decades it absorbed a neighboring lodge and drew in the veterans and civic leaders who shaped Grayson County.
Why it matters
The lodge's migration toward the railroad captures how rail lines redrew the map of rural Texas, making and unmaking towns as they went.
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Themes & tags
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