Grand Lodge of Virginia

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The Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of Virginia, commonly known as "Grand Lodge of Virginia", is the oldest independent masonic grand lodge in the United States with 32,000 members in over 300 lodges.^[1]

History

The plans for its creation took root in a convention held on May 6, 1777. The grand lodge was formally constituted on October 30, 1778, with its headquarters in Williamsburg, Virginia by the union of nine chartered lodges: Norfolk, at Norfolk; Port Royal in Caroline County; Blandford at Petersburg; Fredericksburg at Fredericksburg; Saint Tammany at Hampton; Williamsburg at Williamsburg; Botetourt at Gloucester Courthouse; Cabin Point in Prince George County and Yorktown at Yorktown. Three other lodges in the colonial era chose not to participate.

The grand lodge relocated its offices to Richmond, Virginia in 1784, where it remains to this day.^[2]

George Washington was invited to be the first Grand Master, but was unable to accept the honor due to his military duties in the war for American independence, and because he had never been installed as master or warden of a lodge, he did not consider it masonically legal to serve as Grand Master.^[3]

See also

• List of notable Masonic buildings in Virginia

References

External links

• The Grand Lodge of Virginia Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons - Official Homepage