Orphans Friend Lodge No. 17 Ancient Free & Accepted Masons
Anderson, Grimes County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Organized April 8, chartered June 30, 1842. Pioneered in education. Operated Masonic Collegiate Institute, 1846-1851. Reserving lodge room, gave school to St. Paul's Episcopal College, which was in operation until 1856. Later plant was used by various schools. In 1905 it was sold, and lodge relocated here.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Organized in April and chartered in June 1842 during the days of the Republic of Texas, Orphans Friend Lodge No. 17 threw its energy into education, operating the Masonic Collegiate Institute from 1846 to 1851. The lodge later handed the school to St. Paul's Episcopal College, which ran until 1856, and the buildings served various schools thereafter. When the plant was sold in 1905, the lodge relocated to this site.
Why it matters
In the Republic era, before Texas had public schools, Masonic lodges often founded and sustained the earliest colleges and academies—making fraternal orders unlikely pioneers of frontier education.
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Related events
- · Masonic Collegiate Institute
Themes & tags
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