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Mount Horeb Lodge

Briggs vicinity, Burnet County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Chartered Jan. 21, 1854; met in log schoolhouse. Erected own lodge hall 1856 on land given by Grand Master Sam Mather and B. K. Stewart. First floor used as church and school. A fire in 1915 razed hall. Lodge rebuilt here 1916 on land given by G. T. and W. J. Williams. (1967)

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Mount Horeb Lodge was chartered in 1854 and first met in a log schoolhouse before building its own hall in 1856 on land donated by community members. In the frontier fashion, the ground floor doubled as church and school while the Masons met above — a single building serving nearly every civic need. Fire destroyed the hall in 1915, and the lodge rebuilt on donated land the next year.

Why it matters

The lodge illustrates how fraternal orders, churches, and schools shared roofs and shouldered the work of building community institutions on the Texas frontier.

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Related people

  • · Sam Mather
  • · B. K. Stewart
  • · G. T. Williams
  • · W. J. Williams

Themes & tags

EducationFrontier HistoryLandmark

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