The Hall of Western Star
From WesternStarWiki
Contrary to popular belief, a lodge is not the building that Masons meet in; rather, it is the name for an official gathering of Masons. The proper name for the building is a "hall" or "temple." (Though the latter word is falling out of favor.)
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At Rancho Bosquejo
Western Star Lodge met for the first time in October of 1854 at Benton City, located on Peter Lassen's Rancho Bosquejo land grant. Benton City was located along the banks of Deer Creek, just north of the present town of Vina.
On May 9, 1851, Western Star Lodge was granted permission to relocate to the burgeoning mining town of Shasta, California.
Before The Great Fire Of 1853
Callaghan owned the property where Western Star Lodge No. 2 met prior to the fire of 1853. It is currently unclear what the nature of this property was. According to the book One Hundred Years of Freemasonry in California by Leon O. Whitsell, it was initially "residence of Junior Deacon Jeremiah Callahan. Later, it [the lodge] occupied the second story of a log building owned by Callahan." According to document published by Richard B. Eaton and Raymond A. Jackson in 1973, "the lodge met at the house of, and later in a loft over the store of Jeremiah Callahan." According to the June 18, 1853 Shasta Courier, the fire burned "Callahan's house" on the south side of the street [1]. While the word "house" was sometimes used to refer to a hotel in those days, it was usually capitalized when used in that manner. Since there is no other record of a hotel owned by Callaghan, it is safe to assume the lodge did in fact meet in Callaghan's residence.
The brethren of Western Star Lodge No. 2 were considering buying their own building as early as the spring of 1853. The minutes of March 19 discuss a possible financing deal as well as plans to rent the lower floor of the structure for further income. Interestingly, the June 18 Shasta Courier article lists a Masonic Lodge among the burned structures on the north side of street. Did Western Star purchase a building prior to the disastrous fire of June 1853? We may never know.
After The Fire Of 1853
Brother Shurtleff's house, which itself was destroyed in a fire in 1963, was located on the hill on the south side of Main Street.
The Norton & Tucker Building
On Saint John's Day of 1854, the lodge met for the final time in Dr. Shurtleff's attic and marched in a regal procession to what was then called the Norton & Tucker building. The lodge purchased the second floor $2400 ($64,598.13 in 2006 dollars). Dr. Benjamin Shurtleff loaned the lodge $1000 of that sum [3]
The building was described by the Shasta Courier as "one of the finest two-story fire-proof brick buildings in the town of Shasta" and cost $11,000 to build (over $270,000 in 2006 dollars).
Upon the bankruptcy of Norton and Tucker in 1859, the rest of the building was acquired by the lodge. By then, the lodge had acquired much of furniture that is still in use today: chairs, altar (1855), and secretary's desk (1856). The original officers' jewels (1854) and one of the original pillars (1856) are still in the building [3]
Western Star Hall has been modernized over the years, (seeing improvements such as electricity, gas, running water, toilets, and telephones) but the lodge room itself looks largely unchanged. Carpet was installed in 1884 at a cost of $197.50 ( $4,186.75 in 2006 dollars). The carpet served until 1958 when it was replaced for a cost of $1600.54 ($11, 157.29 in 2006 dollars)
Other additions include two vaults.
The hall was recently renovated in honor of the lodge's sesquicentennial celebration in 1998, but there's no doubt Peter Lassen and Saschel Woods would feel right at home in the lodge they founded 160 years ago.
References
- ↑ Boggs, Mae Helene Bacon (1942). My Playground Was A Concord Coach: An Anthology Of Newspaper Clippings And Documents Relating To Those Who Made California History During The Years 1822-1888. Oakland: Howell-North Press.
- ↑ Whitsell, Leon O. (Ed.) (1950). One Hundred Years of Freemasonry in California. San Francisco: Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons of California.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 1973 Historical Booklet, by Raymond A. Jackson and Richard B. Eaton
