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 Online Forms (click to view)Petition For The Degrees Of Freemasonry (PDF Format) Historic Masons of Lodge 189Corpus Christi Lodge 189 AF & AM has been fortunate throughout its 150 years of existence to have among its members some of the most notable people in local history that have helped to shape our community. We hope to be able to honor them here sometime in the future. Historic Texas MasonsStephen F. Austin Sam Houston William B. Travis James Bowie David Crockett James Bonham Ben Milam David G. Burnet James Fannin Mirabeau B. Lamar Anson Jones Lorenzo de Zavala Edward Burleson Jose Navarro Adolphus Sterne Thomas Rusk Robert M. Williamson Juan N. Sequin R. E. B. Baylor
Presidential MasonsGeorge Washington James Monroe Andrew Jackson James K. Polk James Buchanan Andrew Johnson James A. Garfield William McKinley Theodore Roosevelt William Howard Taft Warren G. Harding Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman Lyndon B. Johnson (EA only) Gerald R. Ford Masonic Links (click to view)The Masonic Service Association Scottish Rite Journal of Freemasonry San Antonio Scottish Rite Library and Museum Other Lodges (click to view)Grand Lodge:
Lodges in Corpus Christi: Independence 1337 (No Link) Del Mar 1350 (No Link) Sunset 1388 (No Link)
Masonic Bodies (click to view)Shriners in Corpus Christi: Al Amin Shrine of Corpus Christi
York Rite in Corpus Christi: South Texas York Rite Collage 169
Order of The Eastern Star:
Order of DeMolay:
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Lodge History
History of Corpus Christi
Masonic Lodge 189 AF&AM
The first
effort to establish a Masonic lodge in Corpus Christi was made
by Col. Henry L. Kinney (generally acknowledged as the founder
of the city), William Mann, and John Hayes in a petition to the
Grand Lodge of Texas early in 1844. A dispensation to form a
lodge was duly granted, and Frontier Lodge No. 28 was officially
chartered on February 12, 1845. That lodge was officially
demised within a few years due to the absence of many of its
members, who had joined Gen. Zachary Taylor’s army on its march
to Mexico.
The Corpus
Christi area was not a felicitous place in which to live during
this period. Both Texas and Mexico laid claim the area between
the Nueces and Rio Grande Rivers, but neither mounted any
effective maintenance of law and order, so that banditry and
cattle rustling flourished there. Indeed, Leander H. McNelly,
the noted Texas Ranger Captain (himself a Mason) remarked on the
hazards of ranching in the area as follows:
“I am willing to take a good many chances, but I certainly would not live on a stock ranch west of the Nueces River, at any point from the mouth of the Devil’s River to the mouth of the Rio Grande. I think that the risk is too great - so great that scarcely any compensation would pay for it. My position in command of a company of troops I do not consider half so hazardous as that of those men living on ranches.”
A second
attempt was made by returned members of the previous group in
1850, and although a dispensation for the purpose was granted,
there is no record that such a lodge was ever officially
chartered. A third petition dated September 28, 1854 was sent to
the Grand Lodge, sponsored and recommended by Goliad Lodge No.
94. This resulted in the granting of a dispensation on
October 19, 1854, and the installation of the first officers of
Corpus Christi Lodge U.D. (under dispensation) with Lucius C.
Clapton as Worshipful Master. (see
list of Worshipful Masters.)
The dispensation was renewed in 1856, and a petition for a
charter was submitted to the Grand Lodge on December 2, 1856. A
charter was issued at the Annual Communication of the Grand
Lodge on January 23, 1857 and Corpus Christi Lodge was assigned
the number 189 and placed in Masonic District 14. Thomas B.
Buchanan served as its initial Worshipful Master. The lodge met
on the first Monday of each month, and annual dues were set at
$4, payable quarterly. It met in a building (location unknown)
rented from one of its members, Bro. Ed Ohler. The population of
Corpus Christi was given at that time as “over 400 families,“
while the lodge membership stood at 36 Master Masons, with
another 9 Entered Apprentice and Fellow Craft Masons learning
their initiatory work.
In 1860 the lodge moved to the second floor of another building
owned by Bro. Ohler, located at the corner of William and
Mesquite Streets, where they paid an annual rental of $144,
while sub-leasing the ground floor for $50/year. The Civil War
disrupted normal lodge activity during the early 1860s, and the
membership voted in August of 1862 to suspend meetings until
December. In fact, it was March of 1866 before they were able to
resume meeting.
A campaign was begun at once to construct a new lodge building,
and property on William Street was purchased in November of
1866. The new building was dedicated in November of 1869. It was
the home of Corpus Christi Lodge No. 189 for nearly 50 years. In
late 1913 a campaign was undertaken for the construction of a
new lodge building. The property on William Street was sold, and
property was purchased on Chaparral Street. The cornerstone for
the new building was laid in September of 1914, and the first
meeting held in it on January 4, 1916.
The Lodge building was severely damaged by the devastating
hurricane which hit Corpus Christi on September 14, 1919. The
building was repaired, and meetings continued to be held there
for a further 43 years, though the Lodge was 25 years in paying
off the cost of repairs. During the years of the Great
Depression in the 1930s many members had to be suspended for
non-payment of dues, while others were carried as delinquent or
in arrears. The outlook began to slowly improve, so that by 1936
membership stood at 267 and a period of remarkable growth began.
Over the following 15 years the net gain in membership only
twice fell below 20, and reached a peak of 94 in 1947. The lodge
reached its peak membership of 1,020 appropriately enough in
1957, the year of its Centennial celebration. Grand Master Paul
Turney of the Grand Lodge of Texas was present on March 23 of
that year to help the lodge celebrate its first one hundred
years with dinner, music, and addresses by several dignitaries.
During its first century the lodge watched the City of Corpus
Christi grow from 698 to 166,000 and its own membership from 36
to over 1,000.
In the early 1960s a campaign was begun to construct a new
Masonic Hall, and its present facility at 4114 Weber Road was
occupied in January and dedicated in August of 1962. On March 23
of 2007, the lodge celebrated its Sesquicentennial, with Grand
Master Donny W. Broughton of the Grand Lodge of Texas attending.
Corpus Christi Mayor Henry Garrett, a member of Lodge 189,
presented the Grand Master with the Key to the City. During its
second 50 years the lodge saw the population of the city rise to
more than 285,000, and Masonic membership in the city still at
approximately 1,000, now divided among five chartered lodges
within the city.
Through the years, the lodge has continued an active program in
support of numerous community organizations, particularly in the
field of education. In 1992 the lodge began participating in
Adopt-a-School program, distributing winter clothing annually to
20 to 30 needy children at Crockett Elementary School. Members
have also participated in the TAKE-TIME-TO-READ program there,
both by regular reading sessions and the contribution of books
to the school library. In addition to the funding of an annual
scholarship at Del Mar College, the lodge each year presents one
or more graduating High School students with college
scholarships and the Lamar Medal and Award for Personal
Achievement.
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Copyright © 2010 Corpus Christi Masonic Lodge 189 AF & AM Version 2.0 Last Update January 20, 2010 |
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