A Brief History of Grand Lodge
By petitioning for membership in a Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, you will be associating with a fraternal
order in Michigan that was organized in 1826 and was operating several years before our State was admitted to
the Union. However, Freemasonry, as we know it today, dates its formal beginnings to the 17th century. Therefore
you will become, upon acceptance, a member of the oldest fraternity in the world.
While we cannot claim that Freemasonry came to the Great Lakes area on any specific date, we know that it was first
brought to the area by the French at a time when it was Indian territory. The earliest documented Lodge west of the
Allegheny Mountains was warranted in Detroit on April 27, 1764, by George Harison, Provincial Grand Master of the
Provincial Grand Lodge of New York, with Lt. John Christie of the 2nd Battalion, 60th Royal American Foot Regiment
(British) as Worshipful Master. By 1772, there were at least three Lodges functioning at Detroit: Lodge No. 1 and
two Irish Military Lodges, Nos. 299 and 378, warranted to Masons of the 10th Regiment, then stationed at Detroit.
The next three Lodges warranted for work in Michigan were also started by members of the visiting military. These
were Harmony Lodge in Detroit, St. Johns Lodge No. 15 on the island of Mackinac and Zion Lodge No. 10 (now No. 1)
warranted in 1794 for work in Detroit.
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see also:
100 Questions About Freemasonry
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