Site of First Bellville Masonic Lodge Building
Bellville, Austin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The petition to form a Masonic lodge in Bellville was initiated by members of Chappell Hill Lodge No. 67. Bellville Lodge No. 223 was chartered in 1858. Zimri Hunt, an early Bellville lawyer, served as first Worshipful Master. In 1858, lodge members erected a two-story building at this site. Meetings were held on the upper floor, and the first floor was used for church and school purposes until 1881. Early members of the Bellville Masonic Lodge were active in political, business, educational, and religious affairs of the community. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Chartered in 1858 with roots in the Chappell Hill lodge, Bellville Lodge No. 223 raised a two-story building on this spot the same year. Fraternal meetings filled the upper floor while the ground floor served as church and schoolhouse until 1881—a common arrangement in young Texas towns where one building had to do the work of many. Its early members shaped the community's political, business, and religious life.
Why it matters
Masonic halls doubled as the civic infrastructure of frontier towns, and this site captures how a single building anchored worship, education, and self-government in antebellum Texas.
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Related people
- · Zimri Hunt
Themes & tags
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