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Site of the First Meeting of Freemasons Held in California
- Group 1
- 728 Montgomery St, San Francisco
- View Map
The first recorded meeting of Freemasons in California took place in a third-story room on Montgomery Street October 17, 1849. About twenty Masons assembled in the room, which had been rented for $250 per month. A charter was granted to the group on November 9 by the District of Columbia Grand Lodge. Six days later the assembly became California Lodge #1, F&AM. On November 23, 1849, Levi Stowell was appointed to head the new group.
The Masons were particularly interested in helping lodge brothers who had fallen on hard times in the frontier settlement of San Francisco. Other local lodges were subsequently formed into the 1850s.
The site of the first Freemason's meeting is now occupied by the building at 728 Montgomery Street, between Jackson and Washington Streets. A plaque, placed November 9, 1948, by the California State Lodge, Free and Associated Masons, pictures the original building.
Plaque
Inscription
On November 9, 1849, a charter was granted by the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia for the organization of California Lodge NO. 13, now California Lodge NO. 1 of the Free and Accepted Masons. On November 23, 1848, Levi Stowell was appointed master of the new lodge, and on November 15, 1849, the lodge was formally organized under the charter.
Note: there is presently no state marker on site. Inscription provided by the Office of Historic Preservation, CA State Parks.
Year Dedicated
1948
Images
