Winters Lodge No. 743, A.F. & A.M.
Winters, Runnels County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded in upper room of schoolhouse ten years before Winters became a town. Chartered December 7, 1892. First officers: J. T. Brown, worshipful master; Ervin Brown, senior warden; W. S. Mullin, junior warden. After a 1910 fire, lodge moved to present hall.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Winters Lodge No. 743 began in the upper room of a schoolhouse a full decade before Winters was even a town, and took its charter in December 1892. Fraternal lodges like this one were often the first organized institutions on the West Texas plains, offering structure, mutual aid, and fellowship to scattered settlers. When fire struck in 1910, the lodge simply rebuilt and carried on in a new hall.
Why it matters
The Masonic lodge shows how civic and fraternal life took root on the frontier ahead of the towns themselves, knitting new communities together.
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Related people
- · J. T. Brown
- · Ervin Brown
- · W. S. Mullin
Themes & tags
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