Granville Then & Now – August 5, 2021 – Granville Masons History, Part 2

Granville Masons History, Part 2

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

At the turn of the 20th century, the lodge rooms of the Granville Lodge No. 55, F. & A.M., were on the third floor of the Joe Green block. (The Chamber of Commerce building now occupies the site.)

In 1905, the Grange chapter in Granville was preparing to build a brick building for their hall. The Granville Masons decided to engage in talks with Grange leaders to see if they could have space on the third floor of the building. A committee was formed at the Dec. 6, 1905 meeting; committeemen were Fred W. Hewitt, John C. Thomson and Dr. Charles N. White. The committee recommended drawing architectural plans for the proposed lodge rooms. The plans were presented to Grange leaders, who rejected them.

Another committee was appointed, consisting of Hewitt, James M. Potter and Frank Beecher; they talked with the Granville Grange chapter’s leadership, and negotiated a five-year lease for the Masons in September 1906. The Masons were settled in their new location in 1907.

The Granville Masons continued searching for their own building.  A building committee was formed at the Dec. 11, 1912 meeting to look into acquiring a building, and the cost. At the Nov. 4, 1914 meeting, the committee was directed to negotiate a price for the Slocum Norton house on North Street. (This house has since been demolished and is now the location of the Verizon telephone exchange building.) The committee found the building could be purchased for $4,500. The lodge voted, but the proposition was defeated by one vote.

The Grange was finding their building to be an unprofitable venture, something the Masons would discover owning a building later on. The Grange wanted $11,500 for their building; the Masons directed the building committee to offer them $11,000.

There was consideration of constructing a new lodge building. The committee was directed by the lodge at the July 21, 1915 meeting to make plans for a new building and determine the cost. The Slocum Norton house, built in 1802 by Isaac Bishop, was to be demolished for a new building to be built of brick veneer or concrete.

At the Oct. 17, 1917 meeting, the lodge voted to move to rooms on the third floor of the George H. McDonald building on Main Street. (The site is now the left part of the green in front of the former TD Bank building.)

Dr. Willis A. Tenney, a member of the building committee, reported at the Oct. 4, 1922 meeting that progress was being made towards acquiring a building. The building was owned by Eugene R. Norton and was at the corner of Main and Church Streets. This was the same building where the lodge’s centennial celebrations took place at in 1896.

The new temple in the Norton building was dedicated Dec. 19, 1922. The building at the time had four stores on the first floor rented out, as well as a store in the basement level. The entire second floor was used as the lodge, with the small third floor in the front used as a dining room.

In 1925, a DeMolay chapter was organized. This was maintained for a few years but was gone by the mid-1930s, likely due to the hardships caused by the Depression.

By 1936, the lodge was beginning to experience trouble in keeping up with paying the building mortgage. Lodge members made efforts to reduce the assessed valuation of the building to keep taxes to a minimum. While one solution would have been to raise rent of the tenants in the stores, this was not possible due to the business depression of the time.

In 1937, the front rooms of the second floor became vacant. These had been occupied by a Masonic Club, which had gone into decline and changed management at the start of 1937. The lodge asked the Grand Lodge if there was any objection to renting the rooms. The Grand Lodge responded in December that they had no objection. The Granville Town Board requested to rent the rooms to have offices for the Town Clerk, Town Supervisor, and Town Relief Officer. The request was granted, and the Granville town offices moved to the second floor of the Masons’ building in early 1938.

At the start of 1941, the treasurer of the Masonic Temple Association reported that $14,000 was still due on the building mortgage, owned by Eugene R. Norton. The original mortgage was $20,000, but due to a decline in membership, low rents, and the effects of the Depression, the lodge was having much difficulty in paying off the mortgage.

In 1942, the members of the Masonic Temple Association were asked by the lodge to contact Mrs. E.R. Norton to find a way to reduce the mortgage; these discussions went nowhere.

In late 1944, there was word around Granville that the Norton building could be had for $8,500. When reported at the Dec. 20, 1944 meeting, members of Granville Lodge were skeptical, considering the $14,000 mortgage the Masonic Temple Association owed on the building. The members voted to have members find out if the rumor was true.

At the March 7, 1945 meeting, M.T.A. member Edward Tyler submitted a letter requesting a special meeting regarding the lodge building situation. The members found that Mrs. E. R. Norton had decided to foreclose the mortgage and transfer it to the Tatko Brothers Slate Company of Middle Granville.

The Tatko brothers gave the Masons the option of keeping the deed or transferring it to the Tatkos. If the Masons kept the deed, the Tatkos would take a five-year lease on the corner store and pay $75 monthly rent; they would not reduce the $14,000 mortgage. If the deed was transferred to the Tatkos, they would grant the Masons a five-year lease on the part of the building they used for the lodge, at a monthly rental of $30, payable in advance and including heat.

The special meeting was held March 20, 1945; the lodge members voted to transfer the deed to the Tatkos. The lodge rental was reduced to $25.

In 1946, the Masons received a charter for a new DeMolay chapter. Rev.  Lewis R. Jones proposed the formation of a “High 12 Club,” which would be the first in New York State; he had found out about the club while in Iowa. The lodge approved; formation night was on June 7, 1946.

The Granville Lodge’s 150th anniversary celebration was held Dec. 4, 1946. A dinner was held, at the Masonic Hall dining room, and at the parlors of the Granville Baptist Church, Methodist Church and Presbyterian Church. A program followed at the Granville High School auditorium. Several spoke at the event. Mayor E.C. Hewitt presented the “Key of the Village” to Grand Master Gay H. Brown. Morris Rote-Rosen told a history of the lodge, and the Poultney Welsh Male Chorus sang some vocal selections. William Roberts sang a solo. This was followed by a buffet lunch at the high school auditorium.